


To the Future!

by St0rmlight



Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound, Mother 3
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Queer Themes, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 78,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23010472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/St0rmlight/pseuds/St0rmlight
Summary: Years after their friend Jeff goes missing, Ness and Paula will activate the Phase Distorter and find themselves in a strange future. There, they will meet a fellow time-traveler by the name of Lucas and learn about a calamity that will be orchestrated by Porky Minch. Yet in order to emerge victorious over Porky in the future, Ness must confront his own past.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30
Collections: Earthbound





	1. People Change

**Five years after the events of Earthbound:**

As usual, Paula showed up late for the definitely-not-a-date she and Ness had planned in Fourside. Ness watched her walk into the burger shop, her hair now dyed spring green instead of the previous cotton candy blue, levitating a Rubik’s Cube in front of her. As she walked over and sat down across from Ness at the two-person table, the Rubik’s Cube twisted and turned on its own. Ness watched as the colors whizzed by as the toy floated in air even after Paula took her seat.

Ness remembered how the constant psychic energy radiated by telekinesis was like a fly buzzing around his head back when he could sense PSI.

A teenage waitress with glossy lipstick walked up and handed Ness and Paula menus before setting down two waters.

“Our new item is the hero’s burger,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at Ness in a way that made him squirm in his seat. “In addition to the patty, it also includes a layer of steak. Our chef would be excited for you to try it and tell us what you think.”

“Ooh,” Paula said. “I’ll take one of those.”

The waitress cleared her throat, eyes trained on Ness. “And you, sir?”

“Uh, could I have a minute?” Ness glanced down at the menu, even though he knew it by heart.

“Please, take your time. And let me know about anything you need. I don’t suppose you’d give me your number? I’m a big fan.”

A fan? Like he was some sort of rockstar or football player?

“Uh, I don’t take calls from people I don’t know,” Ness said. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, big guy.”

The waitress winked at Ness, glanced over at Paula, hesitated, and then walked away. Paula looked over her shoulders to watch the waitress’ footsteps. After she disappeared around the corner, Paula turned back with a smirk on her face.

“Oh, she totally wants to _fu-”_

“Paula.”

She started laughing, and the Rubik’s cube dropped onto the table. “Trust me, Ness. I know a horny chick when I see one.”

“I’m not going to argue with you about this one. Guess next time I can search for a place that’s never heard of us.”

“That must be getting harder and harder.” Paula wore a mischievous smile. “You know, politicians always talk about creating jobs, but we should get some credit for launching the careers of those paparazzi reporters that stalk us. Oh.” Paula slammed her fist on the table, and the water glasses shook. “We should forage in the Lost Underworld next time. Make it a camping trip or something.”

Ness bit back a sigh. He couldn’t expect Paula to walk on eggshells around the subject.

“I would love to,” Ness said, “But I don’t think it would be safe for me.”

Paula’s expression fell. “Oh, right. I’m sorry.”

Ness glanced around, and fortunately most of the seats around him were empty. He made eye contact with a middle-aged man in a suit who stared for a moment before looking down at his food. Ness offered a silent thanks for the people who did respect boundaries.

“Let’s just talk about something else,” he said. “What’s happened in your life since I saw you last month?”

Paula grunted. “SAT. My parents said it was pointless since I’ll be famous enough to make money for the rest of my life. But I’m still not really listening to them about this life shit. I mean yeah, I could probably write a book titled _What it was Like to be The Awesomest Person of All Time_ and make a killing while fueling the sexual desires of teenage boys all across Eagleland…”

“Please. We’re in a public area.”

“What? Staying quiet about how there’s probably somebody masturbating to each of us right now doesn’t make it go away.”

Ness rubbed his temples. “Why do I put up with you, again?”

Paula laughed. “I ask myself that question every time we meet up. But admit it. You probably like having someone who isn’t afraid to step on your toes every once in a while.”

“So you’re the same way?”

“Unless it goes into that weird harassment area.” Paula crossed her arms. “Someone should seriously bug Poo and tell him that he’s lucky to be living at the top of a mountain where nobody can reach him.”

“I’ll put that on my list of things to do,” Ness said. “Right after relearning how to teleport.”

Paula met his gaze. “I’m a thick-headed bitch, so tell it to me straight. Is this you getting pissy about how you can’t use PSI anymore?”

“It’s just an observation.”

Paula raised an eyebrow.

“I’m trying to joke about it,” Ness said. “But yeah, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t affect me.”

“How’s your social life been?” Paula said, her expression softening. “Making any friends you can talk to about this sort of thing?”

“Now you’re just sounding like my mom.”

“I’m going to take that as a no. And I don’t suppose you’ve fallen in love with a cute girl?” she paused. “Or a cute boy. Whatever floats your boat.”

Ness felt his shoulders tense up. Paula didn’t sound bitter, when he looked into her eyes she didn’t look angry, but there must be some part of her that hated him. Maybe it would have been easier if she had screamed and thrown apples at him with telekinesis when he dumped her.

“Didn’t think so,” Paula said. “But hey. We both know I don’t stand a chance at seducing you, but there’s got to be someone out there for you. It will be easier to talk with them about these looming fears.”

“Have you found that person?” Ness said.

“Well, I thought it was you.” Paula’s voice remained calm. “But after that, no. Still, I know it will come sooner or later. Plenty of fish in the sea.”

Ness swirled the ice in his water. “Sorry.”

“Better to call it off when you did rather than ten years into marriage when we’re already saddled with screaming kids.” Paula leaned in and put a hand on Ness’ shoulder. “I just wanted to say that you can lean on me if you ever feel weak or scared. I won’t judge. Ex-lovers or no, we still understand _helplessness_ in a different way than most people do.”

And that was all it took for Ness to be back. Five years ago, and also so much more, to the birth of evil itself.

Red and black swirling…

Heavy noises echoing…

And then…

PAIN.

“Words don’t do that moment justice, do they?” Ness said.

“Nothing can describe it.” Paula’s voice was soft as a whisper. “So trust me, Ness. I know what it’s like to feel like you can’t do anything.”

“Then how did you manage it?” Ness said. “What strength did you draw on to pray when we were fighting Giygas?”

Paula hesitated. Leaned back. “I don’t…”

Her hands started to shake. Ness looked up to Paula and saw her taking deep breaths. The last time he had seen her distraught was…

Oh no.

Ness reached out and locked his fingers with hers. He looked into Paula’s eyes as she managed a weak smile.

“I still love you,” Paula said.

Ness froze. What was he supposed to say to that?

“God, how long has it been?” Paula shook her head. “Years, right? I should be over you by now. I’m sorry.”

“It must be hard,” Ness said. “Seeing me when I can’t bring myself to…”

Love her? Was love the right word? Ness had always enjoyed the hugs, the shared sodas, the sitting down on the hills of Onett and talking until summer days turned to summer nights and the two of them pointed out stars to each other. 

But when it came down to it, Paula was attracted to him and he wasn’t attracted to her. No amount of smiles and tears could bridge that chasm between them.

“It wouldn’t be fair for you to lose a friend,” Paula said, “But of course I hate that I can’t be with you.”

Ness watched Paula inhale, then exhale. This was his fault, right? The pain in her heart came from him.

“Oh, right. Gigyas.” Paula took a deep breath. “I’m not sure I believe the same things now as I did then. You know, that people are good and that we want to take a stand together against evil. So if it were me today fighting against Giygas, I don’t know if I would find the strength to pray. We might have just all died instead.”

“It shouldn’t have just been your burden,” Ness said. “And I think it was different for us in the moment, when we were ready to grasp onto _anything_. Now we know that the world is larger and scarier than we could have ever thought.”

“And that evil in the adult world comes from within, not some monster that corrupts people. Yeah, we’re on the same wavelength here. If only…” Paula drummed her fingers on the table. “No. I can’t let my wishful thoughts take control. I know you better than almost anyone else on this planet, and I’m here for whatever you need. So if you need to vent to someone about not being able to use PSI, you have my number.”

Ness nodded. “That means a lot to me. Can I ask you to answer me honestly about something?”

“‘Brutally honest’ is my middle name.”

Did that mean he be worried about Paula tearing him apart for this? “What if there were a potentially crazy way for me to get PSI back? Something where my only lead is a single thread.”

Paula’s face lit up. “Then you should invite me so we can work together like the old days. Maybe bash some skulls together, if it’s that kind of crazy.”

“Well, I hope not. But Jeff might know how to get my PSI back.”

“Ooh. This sounds like the start of a mystery.” Paula stood up. “Or a long-overdue investigation of one. What are we waiting for? The Phase Distorter is still in Saturn Valley, right?”

“Um, don’t you think we should finish lunch first?”

Paula rolled her eyes and sat down. “Killjoy. Fine, we’ll actually do the _smart_ thing and make sure we investigate on a full stomach. But then we can grab our magnifying glasses and investigate.”

“Magnifying glasses?”

“Yeah. Like a science detective person.” She closed one eye and pretended to hold a lens up to the other. “Do I look like Jeff?”

“I’m not sure you know what scientists actually do, Paula. And Jeff’s an engineer.”

Paula sighed. “You’re right. It’s no fun pretending like I have no clue what he actually does unless he’s around.”

At this point, the waitress came up and interrupted their conversation. Ness decided to order a salad instead of the specialty hero burger, telling the waitress that he had eaten so much steak and hamburgers over the past few days that he just wanted a break. It was probably even true.

“Damn,” Paula said after the waitress walked away. “I never thought I’d see the day. I guess I do get to be your mom, because I’m proud of you for finally acknowledging that you’re not allergic to anything green.”

“Well, you know.” Ness leaned back in his seat and grinned. “People change.”

The salad was indeed refreshing after Ness had basically shoveled junk into his mouth for the previous few meals, although his enjoyment was somewhat tempered by Paula’s constant praising of the hero burger as she wolfed it down.

“If only Poo were here so he could lecture us about the environmental impacts of beef,” she said, chewing food in her mouth. “I miss our friends.”

After finishing lunch, Paula found an open area in one of Fourside’s parks. As they stood under the light of the noon sun, Paula closed her eyes.

“I may or may not regret eating that hero’s burger after remembering that we have to spin in circles to teleport,” she said.

“Don’t worry, I won’t mind if you barf after we warp away,” Ness said.

Paula laughed. “I love it when you’re the absolute worst like this. Are you ready to head off?”

“About as ready as when we had to face Master Belch.”

“Shut up.”

Paula went through the familiar motions for PSI Teleport β, and as Ness legs carried him around in small loops, he remembered the rush of learning how to teleport the first time. Even if he got his powers back, would he ever feel that same high again?

#

“ _Boing.”_

Ah, there it was. The yellow-green plains grass that was trimmed to ankle length, the crystal-blue lake in the center of the valley, and the giant metal Mr. Saturn standing still, its reflection distorted in the lake water. Paula walked over and hugged some of the Mr. Saturns while they made their “ding” and “zoom” noises. Ness watched, leaning on a tree as she laughed with the knee-high creatures.

After a few minutes, Ness walked over to the Phase Distorter itself and put his hand on the warm metal. He looked up at the black Mr. Saturn eye on the machine. Could a device this complicated have… thoughts?

“Probably should have told our parents where we were going, huh?” Paula said, walking up next to Ness. “But that’s the fun part of going on another adventure. Nobody else can hold us back or tell us what to do.”

If only Ness could live that way forever. Just him and his friends, travelling the world and fighting monsters together. No need to worry about school or college, no need to avoid microphones and cameras shoved in his face.

“But I’m doing that thing where I talk too much, aren’t I?” Paula said. Looking Ness in the eye, “Are you sure you want to activate this machine and go to wherever Jeff and Dr. Andonuts went when they disappeared?”

“Probably should have done it sooner,” Ness said. “I just thought I had moved beyond crazy quests like this.”

Paula snorted. “We’ll never be too old for trekking through the unknown together.”

She put one hand on the Phase Distorter and grabbed Ness’ free hand with the other. After a moment, she frowned.

“So… you have any idea how to turn this heap of junk on?” Paula said.

“I always assumed it was some fancy science Dr. Andonuts used.”

“Hmm.” Paula furrowed her eyebrows. “Well, I can try to probe around with PSI. If the Mr. Saturns helped make this, there should be some psychic energy I can detect and interpret. PSI Magnet.”

Paula closed her eyes. Ness waited for her to detect the waves of energy coming out of the machine, occasionally glancing down at her hand holding his. It was probably smart for them to be connected in case the Phase Distorter actually teleported them somewhere (or some _when_ ), but her palm pressed against his felt awkward after Paula’s admission of her feelings.

Ness bit his lip. This wasn’t fair of him. Paula had every right to hate him for shoving her aside. What right did _he_ have to shy away from the situation’s awkwardness?

“Hey Ness.” Paula opened her eyes. “I was messing around with the psychic energy and something weird might have happened.”

“What exactly do you mea-”

The world flashed white around Ness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! :) The name's Connor. I hope you're doing well! 
> 
> I'm new to this site, and this is a crosspost from my fanfic.net account. The story's already finished over there, but I will be re-editing chapters and posting them here. That site gets hissy when I try to do anything with links so I guess I'll leave it at that for now? Though idk if this site is more friendly to them. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Not everything in the story should make complete sense yet, because a lot has happened in the five years since the events of Earthbound. 
> 
> And please feel more than welcome to comment! :) Engagement with y'all is a large part of why I've stuck with writing fanfic for so long.


	2. Kill For You

**Five Years ago:**

Ness crawled into one of the tents by lake Tess in the dead of night to see Jeff tinkering with a bazooka as a flashlight in the corner of the room cast shadows on the opposite flap. Poo was sleeping with his eyes facing the light, his expression carrying the controlled ease of meditation even in sleep. Jeff set his tools down when Ness entered and reclined back, flopping onto his sleeping bag and yawning. Ness blinked and shielded his eyes from the flashlight.

“Nice of the Tessie-watching group to let us stay here, isn’t it?” Jeff said.

“Why are you still up?” Ness said. “Paula’s worried that you can’t sleep.”

“If she were the only one who was concerned, I don’t think you would be in this tent right now,” Jeff said.

Ness frowned. Of course he would check up on Jeff if Paula wanted him to. What kind of person would he be to make her crawl out into the cold of a Winters night?

“Don’t worry about me,” Jeff said. “This is how I make myself useful.”

“There has to be another way that lets you rest.”

“I do sleep.” Jeff yawned. “Some nights.”

“Well, could you make today one of those nights? It would make Paula feel better.”

Jeff smiled. “Perhaps I should be more obvious. Your concern is valid as well. And appreciated as well, although unnecessary and ultimately unproductive. _You_ are the one who needs sleep to restore your psychic energy.”

Ness frowned. “I don’t feel bad. I just need to make sure you and Paula feel okay, since-”

“Since you’re the hero.”

“Since I’m the one who’s used to adventures.”

“Because you’re the hero.” Jeff sat up and adjusted his glasses. “But not everyone is born with powers that let them break the laws of the universe.”

“What does that mean?”

Jeff sighed. “Put the four of us in a line and it’s easy to pick the odd one out.”

“Because Paula’s a girl?”

Jeff raised an eyebrow. “Because I can’t use PSI. Yet I’m on this quest of with you. Not my friends Tony or Max. Not your sister Tracy or any of our parents. You’re letting a mundane kid join your ranks, and it happens to be me. Why?”

“Because you’re a genius. Everyone knows that.”

“And what good is knowing how to tinker with machines when I spend all day travelling the world?”

Ness bit his lip. “We can rest more often if you need it. Paula might appreciate it as well.”

“Don’t worry about Paula.” Jeff pushed his glasses up his nose. “She’s stronger than you think. But you’re right about why I’m useful, of course. I’m not sure how much of my skill with machines comes from the way my brain works and how much is practice, but I’m grateful for it all the same. And to use that power of mine,” Jeff flashed a tired smile, “I have to work through the night sometimes. Otherwise, I’m no better than any other kid you’d find on the streets.”

“Being a genius sounds like a lot of work.”

Jeff laughed. “My skills are a blessing. It’s not having PSI that’s a curse. Still, we’re all capable of amazing things if we put our minds to it. You’d still be a hero if you didn’t have PSI.”

Ness snorted. “Come on, Jeff. People like me need PSI to fight monsters. What else do I have?”

“You have your heart.” Jeff pressed a finger against Ness’ chest. “Another person with PSI might not have agreed to embark on such a dangerous journey. And here you are, leading us through jungles and deserts with smiles and laughs. The three of us would be scattered and lost without you, Ness. Remember that.”

Ness grinned. Despite the winds howling outside, there was a warm feeling in his chest.

#

**Year: 209X**

When the world started to rematerialize around Ness, he stood beneath a tower with glowing windows that pierced the sky.

As he looked around, he saw more and more buildings stretching up towards the heavens. Then came the rain, and with it sounds of pitter-patter and vehicles zooming overhead. The last part of reality to materialize was the smell, the stale air with a tinge of smoke, the hint of metal in the air.

“Oh my gosh,” came Paula’s voice behind him. “This is amazing.”

Ness whirled around to see her looking up at screens displaying 3D holograms on the closed shops behind them, advertising “augmented reality video games” and the latest “hoverpod.” Paula watched the ads transition to a casino with machines instead of poker tables and a… person? Ness squinted his eyes and looked beneath the _“Because you deserve it”_ tagline at a 3D image of their face rotating. This person, their appearance androgynous, had the slightly tan skin, pink lips, and brown eyes that would let them blend into a crowd without Ness being able to pick them out. Their only defining trait was baldness.

“Ooh, I hope we didn’t stumble into an alternate reality where slavery is legal again,” Paula said. “Although I don’t know. This person could be a maid.”

The screen switched to an advertisement for an elephant small enough to stand on a dinner plate, but the person’s image remained in Ness’ head. Something about them… wasn’t quite right.

“This place is so big.” Ness glanced around. “Are we sure this is where Jeff ended up?”

“Seems like his kind of place.”

Ness kept his mouth shut. Jeff’s machines were different than these buildings and electronic billboards that seemed content to distract and shove images into his face. Surely nobody… _wanted_ to live in a city like this, right? Granted, Ness had the same thoughts when he had first seen Fourside, but at least there was grass and benches next to Jackie’s café and the Monotoli Building. When Ness looked up towards this sky, he only saw grey or black. In the dead of night, there wasn’t a single star twinkling above.

“Guess we should find Jeff so that we don’t spend any longer here than we need to,” Ness said. “But where should we even start?”

“Aw, do the holograms freak poor Nessie out more than the starman base?”

Ness grunted, and scanned the sidewalk to see a person striding down the street with the mechanical poise of a businessman. He glanced back at Paula. Still staring up at the screen like a child entranced with a cookie jar on the top shelf. He sighed and walked over to the stranger.

They looked over when Ness approached, and Ness halted upon seeing that the stranger had the same face as the person on the holographic billboard. The newcomer walked towards Ness, eyebrow raised in exaggerated confusion, before taking a bow.

“You don’t appear to have a brain chip,” the person said.

The voice sounded vaguely female to Ness, so he decided to think of this person as a “her” unless she corrected him. “A what?”

The stranger narrowed her eyes. “Could I see your neck, sir?”

Ness took a step back. “Are you a vampire?”

She tapped to a spot on the side of her neck, overtop her major artery. Ness squinted in the dim light flooding above and saw a barcode etched to her skin. He glanced around to make sure no more people were moving to surround him.

“I am required to see if you are like me,” the stranger said.

“Who are you?” Ness said. “And why do you look like the person in that advertisement?”

“Your neck, sir.”

Ness looked to the side and stretched his t-shirt so that she could see the spot on his neck where the barcode had been on hers. He made sure to look at her out of the corner of his eye, at least enough to catch any sudden movements. When he turned back, the stranger had a finger on her chin.

“You appear to be human,” she said.

“I should hope so.”

She cocked her head. “You don’t know what I am, do you?”

“Care to tell me?”

She looked over his shoulder, and the fear that entered her eyes a moment later looked somehow seemed more real than her measured words or obvious motions.

“We need to run, sir,” she said. “Those people are terrorists.”

Ness turned around to see two hooded figures approaching, their boots sloshing puddles in the rain.

“Terrorists?” Ness frowned. “Like the Sharks?”

“We need to go, sir.”

One of the hooded figures raised a gloved hand and pointed at Ness. “You don’t look like one of them. Step away from the clone, and we’ll take things from here.”

“Clone?” Ness looked back at the stranger. “As in…?”

“There’s only one definition for a clone, sir.” She grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry, but I can’t save you if we don’t escape now.”

Ness shook free of the strangers grasp and took a step towards the cloaked figures, water dripping from his hair. “Are you going to hurt her?”

The same man let out a laugh. “Clones aren’t _hims_ or _hers._ They’re _its._ ”

The man went from standing to dashing towards Ness in the blink of an eye. Ness rushed forward to meet the charge, setting his shoulder in front to ram into the man’s chest. At the last moment, the hooded figure leaned out of the way, and Ness flew past him.

“Ah, so the clone hugger has some fight in him.” The man cracked his knuckles. “This will be fun.”

The second man waved his hand in the air. A chill ran down Ness’ spine as he recognized the specific motion.

“PK Freeze Ω,” the second man growled.

Ness rolled out of the way, feeling an icy chill on the back of his shirt as he tumbled and rose back to a standing position, his clothes soaked.

“Where did you learn how to use PSI?” Ness said.

“Oh, it’s not something you learn,” the PSI-user said. “It’s something you _are._ And something that these clones will bleed from you until you have nothing left.”

A set of lightning bolts descended from the sky, striking both hooded figures. Ness shielded himself from the brightness of the blast, and saw Paula walking up next to him.

“Sorry to walk in on your big hero moment,” Paula said, lighting a fire on the tip of her finger, “But having only one side use PSI is a little unfair, don’t you think?”

“Next time, don’t let me flounder for so long.”

“Well, well,” the PSI-user said. “You must be the witch Lucas mentioned. Same age and everything.”

Ness turned his gaze on the man who had first attacked him. He had to trust that Paula could take care of the PSI-user on her own.

The hooded man danced towards Ness and lashed out with a kick. Ness knocked his leg aside with an arm motion and slammed his other palm into the man’s stomach. As the man staggered backwards, and his hood fell back. Another round of lightning bolts struck, and in the afterimage Ness saw the man’s face, with cherry brown hair transitioning into grey at the roots and a smirk plastered on his face.

“Ooh, you’re not as helpless as you look,” the man said.

The stranger reached into his pocket and pulled out an amulet. The gold surface of the pendant started flashing bright lights on and off. Ness shielded his eyes with one hand and rubbed his temples with the other. He searched for the inner focus that _should_ have let him use PSI, and was now relegated to making sure that he didn’t collapse in a migraine. When he thought he found the cool sensation of emptiness, memories of him blasting waves of starmen with PK Rockin surfaced, and frustration pulled him out of focus.

Ness’ headache returned right as the man’s shoe slammed into his stomach. As his vision swam with pain, Ness smiled. This he knew how to deal with.

Ness stepped forward, feinted right, and then waited for the dodge left to lash out with a kick that made contact with the man’s chest. His adversary staggered back, grimacing.

“That was a pretty cheap trick,” Ness said. “Guess you can’t win fair and square.”

“That’s what’s different about you and me,” the man said. “I’m a thief. I don’t have to play by your rules.”

The man threw a ball on the ground, which moments later exploded into smoke. Ness coughed, his vision blurry as tears numbed the stinging in his eyes. He stumbled out of the smoke cloud to see the thief wearing the mask of a demon with a long tongue that extended out of its mouth.

“Face it,” Ness said. “Your theatrics aren’t going to win you the fight. You’re just wasting my time.”

An ear-splitting screech sounded behind Ness. In that moment, Ness remembered the clone woman that the men were originally threatening. Had she made the sound? Ness turned around, and instead of spotting the clone he found himself face to face with a bug with a red shell zooming in front of his face.

Ness paused. The next moment, a force slammed into his back and he fell to the ground. Ness muttered a curse under his breath as he wrestled with the thief on the concrete sidewalk. The ground shook from a nearby explosion, followed by a flash of lightning, and Ness got another view of the man’s white teeth gleaming as he smirked.

“Check,” the thief said.

The man pulled out what looked like a ladder rungs bent in the shape of staples. He slammed one of the iron rungs down over each of Ness’ wrists, pinning him down. Ness frowned, but even after the thief took his hands off the oversized staples they didn’t budge when Ness pushed against them.

“And mate.” The thief smirked.

Ness lashed out with one of his legs, and the thief jumped back, leaving Ness pinned on the ground and unable to reach him.

“Whoa, whoa.” The thief held up his hands in mock defense. “Let’s not throw any tantrums here.”

With his wrists restrained by his waist, Ness used his core strength to lean his shoulders and head up. The motion felt like holding a sit-up halfway, but Ness kept the position upon seeing Paula pinning the wrists of the other PSI-user down with her knees. The thief looked over at Paula and his comrade, chuckling as he paced back and forth.

“Oh dearie me,” the thief said. “Whatever shall I do.”

Then he pulled out a gun and leveled it at Ness’ head.

“Normally this is for clones only,” the thief said, “But you know how it goes.”

Burning flames appeared from Paula’s hand. She brought her fiery palm close to the other PSI-user, keeping eye contact with the thief.

“Lay a finger on my friend,” Paula said, “And I melt his face off.”

“Ooh, aren’t you a tough little girl.” The thief ran a hand through his hair. “What makes you think I even care about that man’s life?”

“So do it.” Paula’s voice was ice cold. “Shoot my friend.”

Ness stayed quiet, taking deep breaths as the gun remained leveled at his forehead. If he had taken attacks from Giygas and survived PK Starstorms from Starmen, he could _probably_ live a bullet to the skull. Only probably, because the danger now felt more visceral and real than it ever had before. The time of fighting corrupted cops and barf monsters with baseball bats and frying pans felt like a lifetime ago.

Still, Paula had to know that Ness’ physical resilience would give her leeway in a hostage situation. If the situation devolved into violence, she would always have the upper hand.

She wouldn’t give up at the thought of Ness getting hurt, would she?

“Oh,” Paula said, pretending to be surprised. “That’s right. Shoot my friend, and you don’t have any leverage over me. And I’ve studied from the best.” Paula’s blue eyes burned in the light from her flaming hand. “I’ll kill you both if I have to.”

The thief and Paula stood still, remaining at an impasse. Gun pointed at Ness, burning hand held up to the other PSI-user.

“Damn,” the thief said. “You really are tough as nails, huh?”

“Wess.” A new voice came from afar. “What’s going on?”

A boy in a rain jacket ran up along the sidewalk, throwing off his hood to reveal a tuft of blond hair sticking up in front. At first, Ness wondered if the boy was the thief’s son or apprentice, but soon dispatched idea. The boy carried himself like a military general, eyes steely as he looked back and forth between the thief and Paula.

“These two were working with a clone.” The thief glanced around. “A clone who got away.”

The boy sighed, and forced a smile in Paula’s direction. “My dearest apologies. If Wess lets your friend go, will you release Alec?”

“If you also agree to tell us what the hell is going on,” Paula said. “We just got here.”

Ness thought he saw the boy’s eyes flash with understanding. “Deal. Wess, stand down.”

The thief grumbled and lowered his gun. “Lucas, isn’t this the PSI-user you were talking about?”

The boy—Lucas—narrowed his eyes. “I told you that Kumatora has pink hair. Are you colorblind or just stupid? Wait, I already know the answer.”

Lucas extended a palm in Ness’ direction, and the iron rungs pinning him down lifted up and floated in the air. Ness saw an aura of shimmering hexagons around the rungs as they bobbed up and down above the ground.

“Seems like everyone can use PSI here,” Ness said, standing up and backing away from Wess.

Lucas ignored Ness, turning his gaze back towards Paula. “If you would be so kind.”

Paula hesitated, and then shook her hand and the fire went out. She rose to her feet and eyed Lucas.

“I don’t think you would have revealed your PSI so easily if you planned to turn on us,” Paula said. “But just so that you know-”

“Yes, you’re extremely powerful and went on a journey to save the world,” Lucas said.

Ness and Paula exchanged a glance. Wess and the PSI-user Alec looked even more confused.

“You’ve heard of us?” Ness said.

“In a manner of speaking. Why don’t I sense PSI from you, Ness?”

How did Lucas know his name? “That’s none of your business.”

Lucas shrugged. “It’s dangerous for PSI-users to be out in the open. You should follow us back to our hideout.”

“Wait,” Alec said. “Lucas, how do you know these people?”

“That’s a good question,” Paula said. “Along with why we should listen to anything you say after your friends tried to kill us.”

Wess scoffed. “I was bluffing. I’d never actually harm a real human.”

“Everybody, shut up.” Lucas took a deep breath. “Ness, Paula, I can explain more when we’re out of sight. Don’t worry, nobody else should know who you are. Alec, Wess, stick with me so I know you’re not causing any more trouble.”

Lucas whirled around and started walking away. Alec and Wess exchanged a glance, shrugged, and followed. Ness walked up to Paula, and only then did he realize that he was shivering from the cold.

“Guess we don’t have much of a choice if we want answers,” Paula said. “Still, we should watch our backs around Lucas.”

“Tell me.” Ness hugged his arms for warmth. “Would you have actually hurt Alec if Wess had tried to shoot me?”

Paula looked offended. “Of course. Never doubt that I would kill for you, Ness.”

Ness bit his lip and focused on the feeling of raindrops running down his cheeks. He was still picturing Paula as the same person who closed her eyes and clasped her hands together in prayer whenever a fight went out of control, but the person next to him now had the eyes of a executioner.

Which might be the only thing that was keeping Ness alive and well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to fill this one with references, from Jeff working on gadgets through the night to all of Duster's thief tools (which I'm having Wess use here). Note that Alec and Wess are younger in this world. Hmm... 
> 
> Oh, and Lucas recognizes Paula and Ness from the movie in New Pork City.
> 
> One last important note: "X years ago" means that many years ago from Ness' perspective, not from where we are in the future. 
> 
> I hope you all have a great day! :)


	3. What I've Seen

**Four Years ago:**

Ness flopped onto the grass, staring up at the white clouds floating in the blue sky, flanked by mountains on either side. He yawned, rolled onto his front, and used his elbows to prop his head up as he glanced over at Jeff tinkering with the Phase Distorter as Mr. Saturns strolled by. The “boing,” “ding,” and “zoom” noises didn’t seem to bother Jeff as he shoved his glasses up and fiddled with wires inside the metal Mr. Saturn machine.

“I’m bored,” Ness said. “Wanna play baseball?”

Jeff sighed, lowering his pliers and screwdriver. “Not my kind of thing. Can’t you ask Paula?”

Ness frowned. He wasn’t sure how Paula’s parents would take it if their sweet little girl came home with grass stains on her legs and sweat staining her clothes.

“She’s busy,” Ness said. “Going from town to town raising money for food banks.”

“That sounds like an excellent thing to do,” Jeff said. “Why don’t you go help her?”

“Me?” Ness turned his baseball cap around. “I don’t know what I would say.”

Jeff snorted, and then pulled a wire out of the Phase Distorter.

“What?” Ness sat up and crossed his arms.

“Remember when I was moaning about travelling through the Scaraban desert? You called us to a halt, gave me a wet towel to cool myself, and launched into a pep talk about how we needed to stay strong for just a little bit longer to obtain the Eight Melodies and fight Giygas. I remember I tried to stay mad at you for bringing a poor Winters boy like me to a scorching desert, but that I couldn’t keep my scowl while you were grinning the whole time. Do that, but for fundraising.”

“It’s different.” Ness flopped onto his back again. “You’re my friend. All those people out in the world are distant and strange. Paula was able to connect with them when we needed to most during the Giygas fight, and I was helpless.”

“I wouldn’t say helpless.” The wire sparked in his hand sparked, and Jeff muttered a curse. “You revived me at least three times.”

“Pretty sure one of those was Poo. And just because you were even more useless doesn’t make me a hero.”

Jeff smirked. “So did you come here just to sling insults at me?”

“Nope. Still bored.”

“Well, I think that you can do whatever you set your mind to,” Jeff said, “Be it fundraising or anything else. You have the strongest heart out of anyone I know. Push through your own challenges like you helped me get through Scaraba. And we’re always here to help if you need it.”

“Thanks, Jeff. That actually means a lot to me.” Ness sighed. “I guess… I feel like I’m only good at hitting things. Baseballs, evil mushrooms, my neighborhood bully in a spider mech, doesn’t matter. I’ll take aim and swing. But things are different now. We’re supposed to do less hitting and more talking.”

“You could join a baseball team.” Jeff wiped sweat off his forehead. “You’d probably be good at it. And if not, it will be something for you to learn.”

“I’ve tried.” Ness followed a cloud as it floated through the sky. “They all just want my autograph. I can never get them to focus on the actual game.”

“Hmm.” Jeff frowned. “It does seem like there’s a larger issue here.”

“I know, right?” Ness sat up. “This world was _less_ crazy when we had to fight dinosaurs and floating records.”

“No, not that. An issue with you.”

Ness crossed his arms. “Hey. That’s not nice.”

“Not in a bad way.” Jeff waved a hand. “It’s common for soldiers to have trouble readjusting to normal life when coming back from war. I wonder if this is the childhood equivalent of that. The rules are starting to change for us anyway as we get older, and civilian life is definitely a change from what we’ve been doing. Personally, I like not having to fight barf monsters and psychic aliens,” Jeff grimaced, “But of course a part of me misses our adventure, too.”

“Listen. I don’t have PTSD or anything.”

“I believe you. I also think that you could use counseling from someone who works with veterans. I can get my father to give me names and set you up with someone, if you like.”

“No, it’s okay.” A Mr. Saturn strolled by, and Ness patted it on the head. “That wouldn’t look good, right? A hero who can’t even help himself and has to go cry on someone else’s shoulder. I’ll find a way to protect the people I care about, Jeff. You, Paula, Poo, everyone. And then nobody will have to worry about me being weak ever again.”

Jeff hesitated, but nodded.

#

**209X:**

Ness shivered, wiping the rainwater away from his brow as he followed behind Lucas through dark alleys in the dead of night.

“What about the clone woman?” Ness said. “I didn’t see where she went.”

“Ah, now I’m starting to piece together how this little conflict happened,” Lucas said. “Clones aren’t allowed to harm humans, so she probably ran off while calling the authorities. All the more reason we need to be discreet.”

“Why do you want to hurt people like her?”

“I stumbled onto this group just a few months ago, after your friend Jeff vanished. Ask Wess and Alec what they have against clones.”

Ness glanced over at the middle-aged men. Wess didn’t make a noise as he stalked through the streets, looking around at broken windows and trash cans with sharp eyes that reminded Ness of an eagle. Alec had his hood back up and walked in stiff motions, his gaze trained on Ness.

“Wait.” Ness looked back at Lucas. “You know about Jeff? What happened to him?”

“Guess it was too much to hope that you’d have that answer.” Lucas frowned. “He was definitely here, working for…” Lucas scratched his chin. “He was doing his engineering gig, and then one day he didn’t come back to the bunker.”

“We’ll find him, Ness.” He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Paula. “At least we know he’s here.”

“Yeah.” Ness looked down at his hands. “I just wish that we had either done this sooner, or not at all.”

“Before you lost your powers, you mean?” Paula said. “We couldn’t have known that would happen.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever heard anyone forgetting how to use PSI for extended periods of time,” Lucas said. “Unless you got sprayed with some pretty powerful forgetfulness gas.”

“Guess there’s a first time for everything,” Ness said, looking down at a puddle. “Lucky me.”

As they continued walking, Ness fell silent as Paula started to ask Lucas more about where he was taking them and the anti-clone group that he worked with. Ness tried to pay attention, but as Lucas’ answers slipped from his mind he drifted over to Wess. The thief smiled at Ness as he approached.

“Nice fight,” Wess said. “I can’t remember the last time someone forced me to pull out all the stops on them.”

“Why not shoot me at the start?” Ness said.

“Come on. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I saw that you’re not above murder.” Ness met his gaze. “She’s human too.”

“Ah, the clone? I can tell there’s something weird about you, so I’ll cut you some slack. But everyone else knows that they’re not real people. Someone who was created instead of born can never be more than a tool.”

“You were going to murder her,” Ness said. “And you were going to murder me, too. So why not start with that? I can already tell that you’re a terrible person.”

Wess snorted. “I’ve heard worse. Still, it’s not your fault that LifeTech has wrapped you around their finger. You’ll see our side once Lucas leads you back to the bunker.”

“The last time someone I knew tried to kill me,” Ness said, “He never pretended to be on my side. He always talked about wanting to watch me writhe and suffer. I never thought I would appreciate his honesty, but here I am. You’re no better than him, and hiding behind words won’t change that. I’ll keep fighting you if you try to hurt another person.”

Ness put a hand on Wess’ shoulder and locked eyes with the thief. He saw Wess’ hand go into his coat pocket.

“Do it,” Ness said. “Whip out the gun and pull the trigger.”

Wess grinned. “Lucas talked about you like you’re supposed to be some hero. What kind of noble warrior lets anger get the better of them?”

“I’m just tired of giving people second chances,” Ness said. “If you hurt innocents, I take you out. Doesn’t matter if it’s a starman, a corrupt cop, or a regular person like you.”

Ness could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He had never really _killed_ someone before, of course. Tamed rabid dogs by knocking sense into them, returned gang members of the Sharks to their docile selves. But never ended their existence.

Except for Giygas.

“Ah, I see what this is,” Wess said. “Trying to play the strong man. Lucas will protect me if you try any of your tricks.”

Ness gritted his teeth. Why did this world have to be so murky? How could someone who stalked through the night hunting innocents see themselves as righteous? And if Ness made sure that they couldn’t hurt anyone else, suddenly _he_ was the bad guy. His mind went back to a man dressed in blue, eyes blazing with religious zeal, as he knelt down beside a statue of glittering gold. His mind went back to a man in a suit at the top of Fourside’s tallest tower, surrounded by paintings and crystal goblets.

What would Ness have done if Carpainter insisted that he was using his cult to fight evil instead of attacking Ness outright? What if Monotoli had sworn that he wanted to bring down Giygas with his wealth? It would have been ludicrous, with the consequences of their corruption laid at their feet, and it was exactly what Wess was doing here.

“I’m watching you,” Ness said. “Because this world is simpler than you think. There is real good and evil, and I know which side you’re on.”

#

Eventually, Ness and Paula arrived at the “bunker” Lucas was talking about. It looked less like a bombshell shelter and more like an old concrete tunnel that someone happened to divide with walls in order to create multiple rooms. They arrived at the main room after descending an impractically large amount of steps, and in the bunker most people were on computers smaller and sleeker than the large machines Ness had seen in pictures of colleges or workplace offices.

“There’s an extra room for the two of you,” Lucas said. “As you can see, we’re a bit off the grid.”

 _This_ was off the grid? Child and adult gazes alike were glued to flashing screens. Paula shook the rainwater off her hands and hopped onto one of the desks with computers.

“This is so cool.” She placed her hand on the mouse. “I’m sure all my programming skills are useless by now, though.”

“I didn’t know that you were a computer person,” Ness said.

“Yup. Jeff taught me, and I was better than him within months. Ooh, Lucas. I’ve been meaning to ask. In my time, we were talking about this big thing called the ‘internet.’ Did that end up going anywhere?”

Ness heard snickers from around the room. Lucas held up a hand.

“Ness and Paula here are time travelers from the past,” Lucas said, “Just as I am from the future. We must be patient while answering their questions.”

So these people were from the future, but Lucas was from the _future_ future. Maybe he unlocked PSI powerful enough to transverse time.

A chill ran down Ness’ spine. If he were dealing with someone who came here by choice, with the power to alter the fabric of reality, Lucas must have some sort of agenda. And if he were as powerful as Ness suspected, he might be a force stronger than Giygas or Pokey. Without Ness’ PSI, Lucas could probably wipe the floor with him and Paula both.

Ness’ eyes narrowed as Lucas walked around the room, chatting with various people as an easygoing smile rested on his face. Lucas knew too much already, and was a wild card that could shift either direction. At least Ness had always known where Giygas had stood. There had been no question of betrayal all throughout his innocent journey.

How did regular people do it, knowing that strangers might always be hiding knives behind smiles?

And yet Paula seemed to thrive in this world. He looked over at her as she typed questions into a bar at the top of the computer screen. This must be the “internet” that she had mentioned. Ness had heard people talking about it at school, but it just seemed crazy that the answer to any question in the world could be available at his fingertips. Still, this was the future. Anything could be normal here.

Ness approached Lucas and asked what room he was staying in. Might as well let Paula do her own digging and come back to him with the information. Still, his fingers itched to do something physical.

Lucas gave him the directions, and Ness walked through a sliding metal door into his designated room. It looked like a dorm room from Ness’ recent college tours, the one he had to get the student guide to shut up about Ness’ accomplishments to actually see. A couple of beds on metal frames, a desk with chairs, and a dresser underneath each bed. That was another funny thing about Ness’ adventure. He had sworn that he had basically worn one set of clothes the entire time, and none of the others had done differently. Too much of a hassle to pack multiple changes of clothes. Whether or not he wanted to, he might be getting back into that routine.

As Ness turned around to close the door, Alec stepped inside the room and threw back his hood. Ness kept his hand on the steel door and peered out into the main area. If Alec tried to go aggressive on him with PSI, Ness should have enough time to shout.

“Relax,” Alec said, leaning back on one of the bedframes. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Where did you learn to use PSI?” Ness said.

“Some people are born with it.” Alec held up his hands. “And it only cost me everything.”

“What’s your beef with me?”

“Oh, what’s this?” Alec scratched his chin. “Not interested in who I am because you’re too important?”

“Not interested because there’s no point in learning about people who only know how to hurt and kill.”

“Hey.” Alec smirked. “I’m just what they turned me into.” 

Ness narrowed his eyes.

“Come on,” Alec said. “You’ll want to hear this. For your girlfriend’s sake.”

Ness kept his gaze trained on Alec. “Is it something about PSI-users, then?”

“Hey, not bad.” Alec summoned a flame in his hand. “You’re from the past, right? I don’t imagine you’ve heard of a company called LifeTech?”

“Wess mentioned it to me. Said I was being brainwashed by them into having human decency.”

Alec chuckled. “I like your fire, kid. LifeTech’s the one who makes the clones. And they’re always looking for new models to base clone lines off of.” The flame in his hand went out. “Psychic ones.”

Ness glanced back out into the common room. Knowing Paula, she had probably found this all out through the fancy “internet,” anyway.

“PSI runs in the family, you know,” Alec said. “I always made sure to hide my powers, but when they realized my daughter Hinawa was psychic…”

“What did they do?” Ness said.

“Oh, _now_ you’re interested. Well,” Alec crossed his arms. “They kidnapped her. Beat her near death so they could catalog how strong her PSI was when she was in real danger. Then they extracted her DNA so they could make an entire clone line. And what do you think they do with the broken husk of a human they did all their experiments on?”

“They killed her,” Ness said.

Alec launched into a slow clap. “Someone gets it. I’m telling you this because I wasn’t strong enough to protect my daughter from LifeTech. And if I wasn’t strong enough, you _definitely_ don’t stand a chance at protecting your girlfriend.”

Ness recoiled back. “We’re not dating.”

“Ah, but you still want to be a gentleman and protect her.” Alec jabbed a finger at Ness. “But you’re a liability. She had to step in after Wess kicked your ass. I look into your eyes, kid, and I see someone who hasn’t faced any real hardships.”

“You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen,” Ness said.

Alec laughed. “Everyone thinks they have it hard, kid. But you’re soft. Weak. Worthless.”

The last word stung. Ness kept his expression neutral.

“Be angry,” Alec said. “Let that anger drive you to be stronger. When this is all over, you’ll thank me for warning you about this before LifeTech agents come for the people you care about.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be grateful for someone like you.” Ness forced a thin smile. “Strength doesn’t always work that way, you know. Each scar is a weight, and after enough of them pile up it’s impossible to stand up.”

Alec patted Ness’ shoulder. “Then stay weak, kid. And try not to cry too much when everything crumbles beneath your feet.”

Alec chuckled on his way out. After he disappeared from sight, Ness grabbed onto the door, reading himself to slam it shut. Lucas stepped into a room, holding up a hand for Ness to halt.

“Trust me,” Lucas said. “I’ve heard all that before. I know how it feels.”

“I don’t believe that.” Ness took his hand off the door. “He listens to everything you say.”

“This Alec does.” Lucas grabbed onto the bedframe. “The Alec from my childhood did not. Or should I say, the grandpa.”

It took Ness a couple moments to connect the dots. “Right, you’re from the future. So Alec is your grandfather. Is your mother or father here with him as a younger version of themselves?”

“That’s the strange thing,” Lucas said. “My mother Hinawa appears to be dead. But that’s not the important part.”

“I’d say that’s pretty important.”

“Oh it was.” Lucas looked up at the ceiling. “More than I could have known. But it’s not relevant right now. I’m sorry Alec said those things to you.”

“Maybe he was right.” Ness glanced down at the floor. “If I’m too weak to protect Paula, what good am I?”

“I…” Lucas shook his head. “This is like talking to my younger self. At least you still have time to learn. I was too late to save my mother and twin brother. And there are some things that you’ll never be able to hold onto, not with all the strength in the world.”

Ness looked up to see Lucas pressing a fist to his chest. For a moment, Lucas looked like a scared child ready to shrink back into the corner. Then he cleared his throat, and authoritative Lucas was back.

“I heard all the same things from my grandfather Alec,” Lucas said. “That I was scared. Weak. Couldn’t do anything by myself. And I’m only now starting to see that it only made everything worse. So I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Ness turned away. “I don’t need your sympathy.”

“Not pity. Just…” Lucas sighed. “You don’t have to do everything on your own. I’ve been talking with Paula, and I think our interests align. Because the person I’m trying to stop is the same person Jeff was investigating here, and the same person who made sure I knew who you were.”

Of course. A person who with enough power to travel with time. Someone obsessed with Ness, someone so dangerous that Jeff would risk everything to vanish into the future and devote himself to bringing their plans to a halt.

“Pokey,” Ness said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey. :) Only real thing I want to say about this chapter is that it always struck me as strange how Tazmily was supposed to be this collectivist utopia but everyone is really darn rude to Lucas. Like the poor kid was basically bullied by his grandpa.
> 
> Okey Connor out. Peace.


	4. Pawn in a Game

**Three and a half years ago:**

Ness knew that it was the only logical thing to do.

He walked into Polestar Preschool, waiting in the doorway as a pair of toddlers ran by with paintbrushes. It seemed like fate that he saw Paula there in the back of the room, talking to a crying child with a toy car with a wheel that had fallen off instead of being out campaigning for food banks or relief for immigrants or whatever wonderful task she set her mind to.

She smiled at Ness when he walked up. He took occasional glances down at his feet so that he wouldn’t miss a child darting in front of him. By the time he stood next to her, she had put the wheel back on the toy car, and the child started laughing as the rest of tear residue ran down his cheeks.

Ness placed two fingers over the major artery on his neck and counted his heartbeat. Eleven beats per ten seconds. He should be more nervous than that, right? Boys weren’t supposed to have an easy time with this.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in jeans before,” Ness said.

“Yeah, I wasn’t planning on seeing you today.” Paula ran a finger over a red paint stain on her blue shirt. “And you know. Kids are messy.”

“I know my opinion probably shouldn’t mean much,” Ness said, “But I think you look good in casual wear. Brings me back to how you would smash UFOs and starmen with just a frying pan.”

Paula raised an eyebrow. “While also in a dress.”

“I could see then that you weren’t afraid to get your hands dirty. I see it now.” Ness shrugged. “I think it suits you.”

Paula beamed. This had to be the feeling of love, right? Wanting to protect that smile and making sure that it never went away.

Ness took a deep breath. Everyone had known this was coming long before Ness did. Paula’s parents had mentioned it to him even as he was returning home over a year ago after beating Giygas. Tracy made fun of him whenever she got the chance and laughed as he turned his back to her. And the news was full of speculation.

Maybe Ness never had a choice in this matter after all.

“I found a Scaraban restaurant in Fourside,” Ness said, “And I was wondering if you wanted to check it out with me.”

“Sure. Should we get Jeff and Poo? It’s been too long since we’ve done something as friends.”

“I’d love to meet up with them. For this, though, I was wondering if we could go just the two of us. As… something more than friends.”

Too easy. The words slipped out of Ness’ mouth like a politician’s speech. Maybe this was fate at its work. It had brought the two of them together to help fight Gigyas, and it must now be holding them together and never letting go.

“So it’s a date.” Paula put a hand on Ness’ shoulder. “I was wondering if you’d ever ask.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“I don’t think any girl in this world could turn you down.”

Ness drank in the warmth in Paula’s eyes. She deserved a life of joy after all of her hard work travelling far from home and fighting Giygas. And Ness was in a position to create a perfect happily ever after for her.

He silenced the voice in his head asking if this was really what _he_ wanted.

#

**209X:**

“That’s right,” Lucas said. “I’m investigating Pokey, and so was your friend Jeff. Although he goes by Porky now.”

Ness rubbed his temples. That message from Pokey five years ago, promising that it wouldn’t be the end. Every day, he had prayed that Giygas’ defeat meant that Pokey could go back to being a regular kid. Because if bringing people together in worship could defeat a cosmic destroyer, surely it could heal one confused boy.

And day after day, Pokey hadn’t returned.

“I need to tell Paula,” Ness said. “She’ll know what to do.”

He walked past Lucas and slid open the steel door. During the motion, he caught Lucas raising an eyebrow.

“Porky was your acquaintance, right?” Lucas said. “I was thinking this would be more in your wheelhouse.”

“Whatever we decide, I’ll need Paula’s approval anyway,” Ness said. “I can’t fight Pokey on my own without PSI.”

Lucas shrugged and walked out into the common room. He nodded to the various people on couches and computers, children and adult alike. Ness’ gaze crossed with Wess’, and the thief smirked at him.

“They don’t mean you any harm,” Lucas said. “I know Wess from the future. He’s hard, but he just wants what’s best for this world.”

Right. Because Wess had good _intentions_ , it was okay that he pointed a gun at Ness’ head and talked about killing clones. Ness wanted to say that this future world was a strange place, but he knew that his own Eagleland played by the same rules. Pirkle blamed Eagleland’s problems on the recent “invasion” of people from Winters seeking modernization, and Ness wasn’t supposed to criticize him because the mayor supposedly was “genuine” about trying to help Onett.

Ness placed two fingers over his neck artery. Seventeen beats in ten seconds. He forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths before walking over to Paula, who was typing away at the same computer as before. Ness had seen the bright flashing lights of arcade games before, but the amount of different parts of the screen flashing with advertisements and all the little icons at the top and bottom of the screen made it almost painful to stare.

“You know,” Paula said, turning her swivel chair around and facing Lucas, “I still don’t trust you.”

Lucas sighed. “This is why I wanted to leave her out of this. Because I have PSI, I’m a threat. I saw how you treated my grandfather Alec.”

“Oh, and I would threaten to melt his face off again to protect my friends.” Paula flashed a toothy grin. “But it’s not about your PSI. You claim to be from the _future_ future, but you’re clearly not comfortable with computers.”

Ness glanced over at Lucas, who was looking at the flashing lights from the screen with the same hesitation as Ness. While Paula could hop onto the keyboard and type away, Lucas still seemed transfixed by the brightness of it all.

“How about you tell us your real story?” Paula said. “We have plenty of time to listen.”

Lucas glanced over at Ness. “I don’t mind sharing. Is this something you want to hear as well?”

Ness nodded. “I don’t think you’re a bad person, but it can’t hurt to know where you come from.”

“In the future…” Lucas glanced around the room. “Why don’t we go to my room so we have more privacy?”

Paula’s eyes narrowed. “Pull any tricks, and I won’t hesitate to bring this entire bunker down.”

“Paula, please.” Ness gnawed on the inside of his mouth. “I think we can trust Lucas.”

“It’s fair to be skeptical when the rules are different in this world,” Lucas said. “It was one thing I struggled with when arriving here. Along with your friend Jeff.”

“You know way more than you should about any of us,” Paula said, her voice dangerously soft.

“And I can explain why.” Lucas started off. “Follow me.”

Paula swore under her breath. “He knows I can’t stay away if Jeff’s at stake. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you if anything gets out of hand.”

“But you won’t actually hurt innocents, right?”

Paula hesitated. “Of course not.”

She walked off to follow Lucas. Ness took one last look back at the computer screen. Is this what he would be forever? Lost in a world he didn’t understand, relying on his ex to keep him safe when it was probably painful for her to even be around him when he couldn’t bring himself to love her?

Ness closed his eyes and muttered a prayer that he wouldn’t be just a pawn in a game outside his understanding.

#

Since Wess and Alec looked up to Lucas as a leader, Ness expected more furnishings in Lucas’ room than the metal bedframe, glossy wooden dresser, and plastic desk. But other than a pencil drawing of a sunflower field hanging on the wall, the room looked barren of extravagance or personality.

Lucas hopped onto his bed and grabbed onto the head of the metal bedframe for support. Paula leaned on the far side of the wall, keeping her eyes trained on Lucas. Ness stood in between the two, glancing back and forth.

“I come from the future,” Lucas said, “And was born after a catastrophe tore apart this society that you see today.”

_I come from the future. And in the future, all is lost…_

Ness closed his eyes. He had been one of three people to hear those words from Buzz Buzz before the future warrior was swatted out of the air. And another one of those people had been Pokey Minch.

Ness looked over at Paula. “Sounds like we’re going to save the future again?”

“Not so fast,” Lucas said. “The life that the few of us led on the Nowhere Islands after the catastrophe struck was perfect. You’ve seen all the corruption around you. Advertisements flashing in your face. The government and corporations tracking your every move. And then they mess with the essence of life itself and create millions of clones.” Lucas shivered. “None of that existed in my little town of Tazmily. We didn’t even have money.”

“So you lived in a barter society.” Paula sounded unimpressed.

“We didn’t even need to barter. We just helped each other out with whatever we needed. We had a jail, but nobody ended up in there except for my father, once. That’s a separate story, but the point is that we were all good people who just wanted what was best for everyone. And then Porky came.”

“Okay,” Paula said. “I call bullshit on all that. I’m supposed to expect that you were just living in a collectivist utopia that _worked?_ No social structure, no conflict at all, when tiered societies have been in our bloodline since before we were human?”

“I can only tell you what I saw,” Lucas said. “It’s possible that our society was doomed to crash from the start. But we lived as close as possible to paradise.”

“I guess that explains why you’re as unfamiliar with computers and the internet as I am,” Ness said. “But how did you convince people to give up those inventions?”

Lucas smiled. “I’m glad that someone’s paying attention. The people of Tazmily knew that people would always go back to their conveniences and comforts if they had the chance. So they wiped all their memories of the past away. Sometimes, that’s the only way to return to nature.”

There was no way that could work in Ness’ Eagleland. Forget about convincing everyone to give up the devices that put a wall between them and their loved ones when he couldn’t even get Paula to recognize how destructive these computers could be.

“I saved the world just like the two of you did,” Lucas said. “I had to fight Porky, just like you. And at the end, I passed by heart onto the Dark Dragon. I prayed that it would protect all the life on this Earth. And afterwards, the world was born anew and we returned to nature, where I helped us reforge a community.”

“See, Paula?” Ness said. “It sounds like the three of us could get along.”

Paula crossed her arms. “Sounds crazy, but I guess we’ve seen crazy too. I’m still waiting until we get to the part where he talks about Jeff.”

“It’s coming,” Lucas said, “After I explain how my new society was a failure.”

“Why wouldn’t it work?” Ness said. “I would think that everyone would love a whole new natural world to explore.”

“Right.” Paula frowned. “No vaccines or medicine. Caught in the same little community where people don’t really understand who you are and try to force their norms onto you. Sounds like a _real_ utopia to me.”

Ness bit his lip. Paula had a reason to be bitter about her own family, of course, but not all small societies were like that. In Lucas’ community, people were probably freer to be themselves.

“It didn’t work,” Lucas said, ignoring Paula, “Because people don’t change as much as I thought. The people who worked for Porky and were corrupted by money didn’t want to give up their power. So they built new factories using the limited technology we had. Roped more of my people into becoming mindless workers. Within a few years, we were on our way to building another city just as corrupt and lifeless as the city Porky had created for himself.”

“That’s one thing I can agree with.” Paula smirked. “There are some people you just can’t reason with. A person who fights for evil and hatred isn’t the type to change their beliefs.”

Ness thought back to the night he had first seen the meteorite crash in Onett. Pokey had stared at the glowing rock with the same wide-eyed curiosity as Ness. Could someone like that really be doomed to their depravity forever? Maybe Pokey just needed someone to show him love.

“Well, there’s one person I’d like to win back on our side,” Lucas said. “Porky’s followers turned my friend Kumatora to their side. I can only assume that she was brainwashed. Flint and Alec mistook you for her.”

“I don’t know enough about this person to understand if I should be flattered or annoyed,” Paula said.

“So Kumatora got sucked into this timeline too?” Ness said.

Lucas nodded. “We clashed with each other at the top of a mountain, and she used some PSI that brought us back in time.” Lucas pressed a hand over his heart. “Her PSI energy has a signature that smells like roses whenever I sense it. I’ve noticed it around the city. She has to be here.”

“Or there could just be roses,” Paula said.

“Your friend Jeff agreed with me, when I saw him,” Lucas said. “He was the one who introduced me to this group after detecting my PSI powers with one of his fancy gadgets. Said that he didn’t agree with how they treated clones, but told me that they could teach me how to avoid the government imprisoning me for not having a brain chip.”

Lucas walked over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a pair of rings made out of blue glass. He tossed one to Paula and the other to Ness, who watched the glass glitter under the ceiling light before snatching it out of the air.

“He told me to give you these if you came by,” Lucas said. “Try putting it on, turning the knob at the top of the ring, and squeezing your hand.”

“It’s cute that you think I’ll trust you the moment you mention my friend’s name,” Paula said.

“It’s okay, Paula,” Ness said. “I believe him. I’ll try it first so that you can be in fighting condition if these rings take control of our minds.”

While Paula was opening her mouth to object, Ness slipped on the ring. Nothing yet, which was a good sign. He twisted the glass dial at the top of the ring clockwise, and the glass turned from blue to green. He looked over at Lucas for confirmation.

“Might want to make sure nobody else is close,” Lucas said.

Ness stepped back and squeezed his hand. When he opened it, he held a long blade made out of green glass in his hand. It was heavy at the tip, giving it the familiar weight of the baseball bats he had used five years ago on his adventure with Jeff.

In a way, it felt like home.

“Turn the knob in the other direction to deactivate the weapon,” Lucas said. “I don’t claim to know how any of it works, but your friend must be some kind of tech wizard to understand future materials so well.”

“What a show-off that kid is,” Paula muttered. “Guess I should give mine a try.”

She followed the same procedure as Ness, and after twisting the dial and squeezing her hand, an axe made out of the same green glass appeared in her hand. The weapon itself looked short and stubby, and it took Ness a moment to put together how the double-sided head of the axe was about the same size and shape as the frying pans Paula had fought with.

“Never mind,” Paula said. “I am definitely okay with Jeff showing off.”

“Now,” Lucas said. “I gave you weapons that could be used against me. Do you believe me when I say that I only have your best interests in mind?”

Paula glanced over at Ness. “Do you really believe this guy?”

“There’s something about Lucas that feels genuine,” Ness said. “His story is so crazy that it only makes sense that he ran into Pokey. I think it’s in our best interests to stop Pokey together and get this Kumatora person back on our side.”

Paula glanced over at Lucas and sighed. “So you want to get your friend back. Then what?”

“Then she can teleport us back to our own times. We can look for your friend Jeff along the way. Wouldn’t want to leave him behind.”

“Come on, Paula,” Ness said. “Think about it. We don’t have a way to go back to our own time, and this Kumatora person is our first lead. Lucas could be our quickest way to find her, and maybe she’s even connected with Jeff somehow.”

“Seems like a stretch,” Paula said, “But I guess I don’t have any better ideas right now. Tell me, Lucas. When did Jeff disappear? Where did he say he was going?”

As Lucas opened his mouth to respond, the sliding door to his room slammed open. Wess peered into the room and smirked at Lucas.

“You had better see this, kid,” Wess said. “Porky just sent us a message through the computers.”

Ness glanced over at Paula, who was narrowing her eyes at Wess. If she hadn’t put the pieces together about Pokey time-travelling to this year in his spider mech, it wouldn’t be long until the truth dawned on her. And what then? Would Ness and his friends be locked in an eternal battle with Pokey, chasing him across both time and space until both lost all meaning?

Jeff must have the answer for how to finish this. Maybe he had only disappeared when he figured out too much about Pokey Minch.

#

It turned out that “sending a message through computers” was more correct than Ness expected.

As he stepped out into the common room behind Paula and Luas, he noticed that each of the computer screens had a background of pitch black with the same white letters plastered on each screen.

“I KNOW YOU ARE HERE, NESS. YOU WILL COME TO MY FACILITY AND MEET MY CREATIONS.”

“Paula.” Ness crossed his arms. “What did you do to the computers?”

“Hey, I didn’t change any of the settings,” Paula said. “Porky must have known how to access these machines for a long time. And they all have cameras, so he’s probably been spying on you the whole time.”

Lucas glanced around at the computer screens. Hesitated. Then his eyes turned to steel.

“Follow me,” Lucas said. “If we disobey, he’ll probably blow this whole bunker to smithereens. But I’ve been in this situation before and gotten out alive.”

“If you play by his rules, how can you possibly win?” Ness said.

Lucas looked back and grinned. “That’s the thing. Porky has one rule, and it’s to make sure that everything adores him. Play into that, and you’ll be amazed what you can get away with.”

#

Ness was surprised that he didn’t have to persuade Paula to follow along. As Lucas said a quick goodbye to the others in the bunker, Paula looked down at the glass ring around her finger. As Lucas led them to the surface, she ran a finger over the blue glass and rotated it under the lights from above.

When Ness stepped onto the surface layer of the city, it was still the dead of night. Yet despite that, the towers above glowed with white lights from each window.

A black limousine pulled over on the street in front of Ness. A man in a business suit stepped out and offered his hand. Ness responded by narrowing his gaze.

“Master Porky welcomes you to the Empire Porky Building, Ness,” the man said. “If you would be so kind as to step inside, we can offer you a variety of refreshments on your journey.”

Ness glanced over at Lucas. “Do you really think we should do what Porky wants?”

“Worked out for me the first time,” Lucas said. “Wasn’t perfect, but you’ll have me to lead you through the bumps.”

Turning towards Paula, “Are you going to argue about this one?”

Paula cracked her knuckles. “Nah. We won’t figure out anything about Porky by hiding from him. Might as well start searching for clues now. Maybe I can even give this Kumatora person a piece of my mind.”

Ness clasped his hands together and fixed his gaze back on the man in the business suit. “It’s settled, then. We graciously accept your master’s offer of… hospitality. Rest assured that we will be on our best behavior.”

After five years, he was going to see Pokey again. People could change a lot in that time, but Ness wasn’t sure how much left there was of Pokey Minch to grow.


	5. Hinawa

**Three Years Ago:**

When the news broke about Paula, Ness’ mom knocked on his door and told him that Jeff called her earlier. She told him that since Jeff talked her ear off, it would be best for Ness to teleport over to Saturn Valley and get the full details firsthand.

So Ness did. For all the confusion of the world, the word of his mother was still law. Why bother thinking for himself when she always knew what was best?

Ness found Jeff in Saturn Valley tinkering with the Phase Distorter, screwdriver and pliers in hand. He walked up until Jeff turned around, the sun’s rays reflecting off his dirty glasses. Jeff grinned and dropped his tools before walking up and embracing Ness in a hug. Ness blinked, too surprised to return the embrace.

“I already talked to Paula on the phone,” Jeff said. “She’s… a little distraught, obviously. How are you doing?”

Jeff released Ness and held his shoulders at arm’s length. That smile of his warmed Ness’ heart almost as much as Paula’s. What did he do to deserve friends who would be happy with his mere presence?

“I just don’t understand,” Ness said. “She must have known that they would hate her, right?”

Jeff crossed his arms and frowned. “She likely anticipated that the church would distance itself from her. And she must have worried about how her parents would react. Do you know what they told her when she came out? I only gathered that they weren’t pleased.”

Ness bit the inside of his mouth. “They said that she either needed to fix herself or find somewhere else to live.”

Jeff let out a growl. The noise was so guttural that Ness flinched.

“Just twenty or thirty years ago, conversion therapy was considered to be a legitimate form of therapeutic conditioning,” Jeff said. “I suppose old habits die hard, even when they’re monstrous.”

“If she’s still attracted to boys, why couldn’t she pretend to be straight?” Ness glanced at the pond in the middle of the valley. “If she ended up marrying me, nobody would ever have to know that she’s bisexual.”

“And do you think that’s what she wants?” Jeff locked eyes with Ness. “To pretend like she’s somebody she isn’t whenever the eyes of the world are watching? I thought that out of anyone, you would understand.”

“What do you mean?” Ness said.

“You’re always talking about how you want people to see past the image of the hero and see Ness the person. Evidently, Paula wants the same. It should tell you something that she took the leap even though it cost her the only life she ever had.”

Ness stared up at the sky, its cotton clouds unreachable as gravity chained him down. Was there anything that he cared enough about to risk the relationships with his family and closest friends? The church was a way of life for Paula, and now the people she trusted were whispering through sneers about how she would go to hell. In her place, Ness probably would have kept it in.

But maybe that was why the air seemed so suffocating whenever he took a step outside. Maybe that was why he spent nights alone staring at his ceiling, knowing he would wake up the next morning without the will to roll out of bed. Maybe that was why he went days at a time without eating, lying to his mother that he was picking up burgers from the nearest joint. If Paula felt the same way, then even the flames of hell would be kinder than playing the part of the perfect maiden everyone saw her as.

“I think I understand,” Ness said.

But did he? Because Ness had no other part of himself to embrace. No way to end his own torment. And the longer he dated Paula, the worse and worse it got. He lived for her smiles, but after she left he felt drained and alone.

Yet even if he were suffering, Ness would be a monster to abandon her now.

“Good.” Jeff smiled. “The most important thing to do right now is to show her support. The entire world is trying to tear her down. Do anything to show that she’s not alone, and it will mean everything to her.”

“I already bought her some Daffodils from the store. And chocolate.”

“See? You already know how to handle the situation without me. You have the power to make people happy in ways that has nothing to do with using PSI or being a hero.”

“Yeah, yeah. I still remember you telling me something corny like how my power comes from the heart.”

Jeff shrugged. “When someone as calculating as me starts to get sentimental, it’s because I’ve put a lot of thought into it.”

Ness took a deep breath. The emptiness felt a little better.

“Thanks for talking it out with me, Jeff. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Well, hopefully we don’t have to find out.” Jeff wiped his glasses on his shirt. “I should probably get back to work. Good luck with you and Paula.”

“Thanks.”

Ness turned around, scanning the terrain for a wide-open area for teleportation.

“Oh, and Ness?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t forget to make yourself happy, too.”

“Of course.”

If only he knew how.

#

**209X:**

Ness had never seen a city that was so alive at night.

The limousine was large enough for Ness to pace back and forth inside of it, and every time he glimpsed out the window he saw holographic advertisements lighting up the sky. Clone labor, cheap drugs, whatever product scantily clad women and men were advertising… well, at least there was a certain egalitarianism in inappropriate images of both sexes.

He noticed Paula staring out the windows at the masses of people walking on the sidewalks. Most of them had colored hair and bright nails, men and women alike. Their faces looked smoothed by plastic surgery, and their arms were covered in tattoos. Ness recoiled back, while Paula only smiled.

“I knew I wasn’t the only odd egg out there,” she said, running a hand through her dyed hair.

“They look so strange to me,” came Lucas’ voice. “I was taught that our bodies are sacred. Not blank canvases for whatever twisted art we desire.”

“I like the canvas analogy,” Paula said. “In my world, everyone tries to be blank. Here, people paint whatever they want.”

Ness looked up at the sky. Still not a single star. Could anything be worth this emptiness?

“I’m surprised at how many women are out on the streets,” Paula said. “In Twoson, it’s never safe.”

Lucas snorted. “I bet it’s not especially crime-free here.”

“I see cameras everywhere,” Paula said. “Creeps can’t be creepy without getting recorded. That must help.”

“Still,” Ness said. “You’d think that people would need to sleep during these hours.”

“I think some of them have night shifts,” Lucas said. “I’ve taken the subway before, and the crowd there makes this place look like a country road.”

Ness tuned out their conversation and spent the rest of the drive staring out the window as shop signs and advertisement holograms flew by. Still more of the same. Despite how much this city was brimming with fancy distractions, it got old rather quickly.

#

What struck Ness about the Empire Porky building was not the size of it (he couldn’t see the top of many buildings even after craning his neck) but the dragon statues in front, breathing fire. Tall buildings could have uses for each floor, while fire-breathing fixtures of stone existed to shove extravagance in the face of the poor. When the limousine halted in front of the building and Ness stepped out, Lucas followed with a sigh.

“I suppose I’ll never escape from this place,” Lucas said.

“You’ve been here before?” Ness said.

“Doesn’t matter.” Lucas shook his head. “Thinking back to the past won’t help me. Though I guess relative to this time, it would be the future. How confusing.”

The limousine driver cleared his throat and motioned towards the front steps of the Empire Porky Building. Beyond the line of flames rising from the dragon statues was an opaque glass door with two doormen standing on either side. Paula was the first one to start ascending the steps. Lucas and Ness exchanged a glance before following.

The doormen nodded to Paula as she walked up to the glass entrance, and then to Ness and Lucas as they caught up with her. Before they could walk in, the doors slid open to reveal an old man with mustache and tufts of white hair. He looked at Ness first, cocking his head and smiling. His eyes were unreadable behind murky glasses.

“Greetings, Dr. Andonuts,” Ness said. “This was not where I expected our reunion to be.”

Whatever fishy business was operating in the shadows, the best Ness could do right now was give away as little information as possible.

“Young Ness.” Dr. Andonuts’ voice was monotone. “It is good to find you alive and in good health.”

“Pokey wants to see us, right?” Paula said. “Let’s get it over with.”

“Not exactly.” Dr. Andonuts pursed his lips. “Master Porky merely wishes to show you the extent of his creations.”

“Don’t tell me he brought chimeras here,” Lucas said.

Chimeras as in the mythological creatures?

“Follow me,” Dr. Andonuts said. “All will make sense in due time.”

He turned around and walked through the open set of doors. Paula glanced back at Ness.

“Feels like we’re walking into a trap,” she said. “But fuck it. Pokey’s not nearly smart enough to concoct something that will put a dent in our plans.”

Dr. Andonuts stiffened, but said nothing. Paula walked into the Empire Porky Building with the soft steps of a panther stalking its prey, her gaze darting around to all corners of the room. When Ness followed, a hand fell onto his shoulder.

“If you can’t tell, he’s brainwashed by Porky,” Lucas whispered into Ness’ ear. “We’ll get him back, but first we need to gather information.”

Ness nodded. Jeff probably would have been the best one in the group at this, holding back and assessing the situation until he could pinpoint the exact way to strike. The thought almost made Ness laugh and how cruel fate could be.

Ness studied the lobby himself after stepping inside. The receptionist desk, the aggressive polish of the floor, and the few screens littered around the walls and ceiling for surveillance looked advanced, but not unrealistic. Perhaps this level was made in a sort of “retro” style from the perspective of the future. After a few more seconds of looking, Ness’ eyes wandered to the receptionist at the desk. Compared to the people walking on the streets, her brown hair and business suit looked strangely normal by Eagleland 90s standards.

The receptionist smiled at Ness as he passed by, her red lipstick reflecting the ceiling lights above. After he walked around the desk, she looked down at a rectangular screen on her desk. When she leaned forward, Ness saw a barcode on the back of her neck.

His stomach churned. A human branded just like a cow… The woman must be a clone, then.

And it must also be why the clone back in the dark alley insisted that she check Ness’ neck when he first arrived at the future. Was everyone who was staffed here a clone? For all Ness knew, even the Dr. Andonuts in front of him could be synthetic being.

So many questions, no ways to find the answers. Ness resolved to focus his thoughts on what would help him find Jeff. The culture around clones and chimeras and whatnot could wait another day.

“Dr. Andonuts,” Ness said. “Why does Pokey wish for us to see his creations?”

“I do not claim to understand Master Porky’s intentions,” Dr. Andonuts said. “But he was quite insistent that you be present. He did mention you coming with a girl and a boy, but you were the important one he wanted.”

The girl must have been Paula, and the boy could easily be Lucas. But if Pokey thought that the other boy would be Poo, that meant he had accounted for Jeff in one way or another. So at least Ness was on the right track... or he was reading too much into Dr. Andonuts’ words.

“Must be something about sending a message,” Paula said. “We’ll suffer through whatever show he has planned for us, and he’ll probably want to meet you face to face. We can ask him our questions then, or just wait for him to let something slip while he ignores our words.”

Ness nodded along. A face to face with Pokey was inevitable and long overdue. He could trust Paula to defend herself, seeing how she was prepared to melt Wess’ face off back in the alley fight. And as for his life… Well, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad never to bear any more expectations on his back. So long as he could get some answers about Jeff, he could die happy.

But he was getting ahead of himself. Ness followed Dr. Andonuts led him into an elevator. He remembered watching Pokey steal his brother Picky’s lollipops and dangle it in front of his crying brother, just out of reach. Ness had never seen him as happy as when Picky blubbered and screamed. And while everything else in the world changed, Ness could count on Pokey to stay the same. Pokey would probably try to dangling Jeff just out of grasp in similar fashion.

Ness tensed. Right in front of him and out of reach could only mean a few things in this scenario. Lucas said that Jeff disappeared a few months ago, and here Jeff’s father was, serving Pokey like a blind sheep. Maybe Pokey brainwashed Jeff as well, and was planning to display the end result in order to torment Ness.

As the elevator started to ascend, Ness glanced over at Paula and saw that she was staring off into space, her jaw clenched. Perhaps she came to the same conclusion.

Paula’s words echoed in his mind. _Never doubt that I would kill for you, Ness._

If Jeff was brainwashed and attacked Ness, how would Paula respond? The thought of her killing Jeff to protect _him_ of all people made Ness feel nauseous.

Ness recalled Pokey’s letter that Picky delivered right after Ness and his friends defeated Giygas. He thought back to Jeff’s disappearance and Dr. Andonuts’ reappearance in this twisted future. Ness didn’t know all the details, but the pieces were starting to fall in place for whatever plan Pokey had in mind. And Ness was following the trail of breadcrumbs without PSI and dragging doubts from the past five years with him.

Ness didn’t realize how much time passed until the elevator opened and Dr. Andonuts stepped outside onto a white tile floor. He walked out after Paula to see people in glass cells the size of animal cages, the glass cubicles stretching down the hallway in two rows. Each of the people behind glass looked the same as the receptionist downstairs. They all looked in Ness’ direction with the same green eyes and narrow face. Ness realized he was holding his breath and forced himself to exhale.

“The rest of you are free to wander as you wish,” Dr. Andonuts said. “But Master Porky has a particular specimen he wishes to show Ness.”

“Are we free to visit other floors?” Lucas said.

Dr. Andonuts nodded. “The elevator buttons will scan your fingerprint and allow your access.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

“They must have gotten it from spying through your computers day and night,” Paula said. “Can’t be helped now, I suppose.”

Lucas looked even more confused, if possible. If the technology from Lucas’ time was primitive even by 90s Eagleland standards, Ness supposed that Lucas wouldn’t know about fingerprint identification.

“I’ll see this clone as well,” Lucas said. “But after that, there’s something—some _one_ I need to find.”

Dr. Andonuts walked off down the hall, and the eyes of the clones on either side followed him. Paula exhaled through her nose like a raging bull and crossed her arms. Lucas cast a sidelong glance at her.

“My mind is telling me that so many things are wrong here,” Paula said. “But I’m too curious to turn back and I trust in the power of PSI to send this entire building underground if I have to. You ready?”

“Sure. Although maybe not for the burying a skyscraper bit.”

“Yeah.” Paula’s expression darkened. “Me neither.”

Ness followed Dr. Andonuts down the hallway of clear clone boxes. Paula resumed her act of glancing around with narrowed eyes and walking light on her feet. Lucas kept his gaze trained on the ground, hands in pockets. Ness fiddled with the glass ring on his middle finger, careful not to set the weapon off. Was it foolish to hope that he and Pokey could talk their way out of a conflict, now that Giygas couldn’t poison his mind any longer? After all, Ness might need his cooperation to figure out what happened to Jeff.

Dr. Andonuts turned a corner, and the rows of clones on either side of the hallway continued. At the end of this corridor behind another glass barrier was a field of grass with trees sprouting cherry blossoms and purple maple leaves. A stream ran through the greenery, with a footbridge made out of red wood looming over. Only then did Ness see the woman with and long, brown hair and a red dress sitting on the stream bank and dipping her feet into the water. When Dr. Andonuts approached, she rose to her feet and looked over her shoulder.

From her face, she looked about the same age as Ness and Paula. She made eye contact with Ness and smiled.

Stupidly enough, Ness’ first thought was about her being interested in him just like the girls in Eagleland whose whispers included the word “hero” whenever he passed.

Ness fought down nausea and reminded himself that a clone like her probably had more pressing matters on her mind when meeting strangers, with how poorly everyone in this world seemed to treat them.

So what was the smile for?

Dr. Andonuts walked up in front of the glass that separated ceramic tile from grass, not bothering to make eye contact with the young woman before turning around to face Ness and Paula.

“This was the specimen Pokey wanted to show off?” Paula frowned. “I don’t know why-”

_Ness. That is your name, is it not?_

The soft voice echoed in his mind. He glanced over at the others to see if they heard the same thing. Dr. Andonuts didn’t appear to catch the message, and Lucas’ face stared at the young woman with an unreadable expression. Paula whirled around to face her.

“That was PSI.” Paula closed her eyes. “Yes, she’s definitely a PSI-user. This is what Pokey wished to show us?”

“Indeed.” Dr. Andonuts cleared his throat. “Master Porky instructed me to tell you that-”

“That our psychic powers are so worthless that he can mass-produce it if he wants,” Ness said. “That we’re not special in this world.”

Dr. Andonuts smoothed out his button-down shirt. “That was the main thesis of his argument, yes.”

“And is that all, I wonder?” Lucas’ voice was soft as a whisper. “Or did he know that I would be here as well?”

Ness made a note to remember to ask Lucas what he meant away from prying ears.

“He shouldn’t have bothered,” Ness told Dr. Andonuts. “I already know that I’m not special.”

_Ness. Will you talk to me?_

Ness looked up at the woman behind the glass. She met his eyes and nodded, her smile widening. If her demeanor were anything other than the perfectly relaxed and calm that she was putting on display, his heart would have pounded with fear about what she wanted from him.

“It is not up to me to question Master Porky’s commands,” Dr. Andonuts said. “Though I hope he will be glad that you have already taken his lesson to heart.”

_You can bring Paula and Lucas if you want, but I think it would be more beneficial for us to talk without others hearing. Besides, Lucas… well, I don’t suppose that’s your business._

Ness stared at the clone, trying to see past her serene smile and distant eyes.

_I can tell that you’re hurting, Ness. You don’t have to._

Before Ness knew it, his hands were up against his chest. People had praised him, worshipped him, called him a friend, loved him. Nobody before told him that they understood his pain.

“Dr. Andonuts,” Ness said. “Since Master Porky wants me to examine this clone, is it okay if I enter the space with her? I assume she is not dangerous.”

Paula glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. He shrugged back, hoping that she could read, “I’ll explain it later,” from the motion.

“You may not wish to do so,” Dr. Andonuts said. “This one in particular was the result of certain experiments that led to its infection. It is sterile now, of course, but most would feel uneasy about venturing so close.”

Ness glanced back at the woman, crossing his arms.

 _He speaks the truth,_ the voice echoed in his mind. _But if I still had the virus in my body, it would have killed me long ago._

Ness sighed. It was probably something that PSI could cure anyway, right? Thank goodness he taught Paula healing PSI before he lost his own powers.

“I’d like to enter anyway,” Ness said.

“I suppose there’s no reason I can’t allow it.” Dr. Andonuts put a hand on his chin. “Unless your friends have objections to you entering a zone that people may think is infected despite strong evidence otherwise.”

“Go for it,” Paula said. “Good to see you living on the edge for once.”

“I…” Lucas gulped. “No. I should just observe for now. Please, go ahead.”

Ness walked up and put his hand at the glass, staring at the woman through his own transparent reflection. The glass barrier slid out in front of Ness, and he could hear the gurgling of the river behind the young woman. She smiled with the motherly grace of someone decades older than she appeared.

Ness stepped past where the barrier used to be, onto the lush blades of grass flopped over onto each other. When he stared at the young woman, he wasn’t sure why he was following her directions. He wasn’t desperate, allured, or even that curious.

A gust of wind behind him marked the glass barrier closing behind him.

“You obey me because you do not know another way to live,” the woman said.

Ness narrowed his gaze. Was he that easy to read, or could this person sift through his thoughts with the PSI that Paula mentioned? For all Ness knew, she was reporting to Pokey. He had nothing to gain from talking with her, and didn’t know what her onyx eyes could take from him.

He glanced down at the glass ring Lucas gave him before approaching her. If bad went to worse, Ness would find out how useful it would be to have a blade hidden in plain sight.

“Can Dr. Andonuts and the others hear us?” Ness said.

“The architects of this building made the barriers soundproof so they couldn’t hear our screaming and whimpering. Must be useful to get some peace and quiet as the virus they injected into us devoured our body until we were withered lumps of flesh.” She closed her eyes and walked towards the river. “I hear Porky developed a less painful version.”

“Perhaps we should start with your name.”

“You are a strange one. I expected disgust or denial from my little story. Instead I got…” she cocked her head. “Weariness, perhaps?”

“I have nothing but sympathy for how they treated you and the others. That doesn’t mean I trust you enough to break down in tears over your loss. Your name?”

The young woman sat back down on the stream bank, looking over her shoulder at Ness. “Understandable. I don’t trust myself either.”

“Your name. Please.”

She sighed. “Clones don’t get names, Ness. But Lucas thinks that my name is Hinawa. Feel free to call me that, if you wish.”

Ness glanced back and saw that Lucas was still staring at Hinawa. Now that Paula and Dr. Andonuts were keeping a wary eye on each other, Lucas’ shoulders were hunched and his expression was forlorn like a child abandoned in the rain. After a moment, Ness saw him clear his throat and cough into a fist, returning to his stony posture.

The name “Hinawa” could fit several people, but Lucas recognized her, and that Alec mentioned that his daughter was named Hinawa. Lucas said that Alec was his grandfather, right? The daughter of his grandfather made the original Hinawa Lucas’ aunt, right? Unless…

Oh.

“I see that you are putting the pieces together,” Hinawa said. “Please, why don’t you take a seat next to me? The water is lovely.”

  



	6. Kumatora

**Three Years Ago:**

Ness delivered the flowers and chocolate to Paula. Just like Jeff suggested, and just like he originally planned to. When he came into her room with the gifts in hand, Paula broke down crying.

“Thank you.” She sniffled. “I was worried that I would disgust you. That you would leave me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Paula smiled, wiping her tears away. “No, it’s my fault. When I was little, my parents would take me out to look at the stars. When I sat on my dad’s shoulders, he pointed at the North Star and said that it would always be the same, just like his love for me. So I was wondering if I’m just unlovable.”

“Of course not. Your parents…” Ness sighed. “I’ll always be here for you.”

There it was. The smile that gave him a reason to keep living. Ness managed to set the daffodils and chocolate on Paula’s nightstand before she embraced him in a hug. The way she clung onto him was so desperate that it broke his heart.

He really was the only person in this world she had left.

“You want to know the craziest part?” Paula said. “This is still better than how it was before.”

“I can’t tell if I should be relieved or horrified.”

“I don’t know either. I wish I could explain it to you, Ness.” She released him from her embrace and kissed him on the cheek. “I think all this time, I thought everyone was pretending to be someone they weren’t until it hurt so bad that they…”

A pause.

“That they do what?” Ness said.

“Promise you won’t hate me.”

“Promise.”

Paula grabbed onto Ness’ hand and squeezed. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide cutting my wrists, given how often I have to wear dresses. Plus, I didn’t know where to get a good blade for that sort of thing. So I…” Paula drew a shaky breath.

“It’s okay,” Ness said, running a hand through her hair. “I’ll never leave you.”

“There was one part of my body that nobody could ever check,” Paula said.

She stepped back, releasing Ness’ hand, and pulled her lower lip down until her gums showed. The inside of her lip was gnashed and covered with white scabs and canker sores. Paula pulling the skin to show Ness stretched some of the cuts out until they cracked and bled. After a moment, she let go of her lip, hugged her arms, and shrank back.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Ness took a moment to collect himself. It wasn’t normal for someone to bite the inside of their mouth until it bled, and to try and avoid wincing when eating salty foods for days afterwards? Though, Paula’s lip looked a lot more mangled than Ness’ inner cheek whenever he needed a blast of pain to remind himself he was alive.

“Ness?” Paula said, her voice small.

“I love you.” Ness stepped forward and hugged Paula.

He felt her relax in his arms. Sometimes non-responses were the best way to handle sensitive situations like these.

“Why does it have to feel so good to get all of this out?” Paula said. “If I could just hide who I am without wanting to hurt myself, then maybe my parents wouldn’t…”

“What are they doing?” Ness said.

Paula tore herself away from Ness’ embrace and turned away. She leaned on her dresser, which had a framed picture of her smiling as children at the daycare played with lettered blocks.

“I have until tomorrow to pack up everything.”

A chill ran down Ness’ spine. All the evil in the world was supposed to be gone now that Giygas’ influence wasn’t looming over the world like air heavy with smoke. Yet there was a part of him that understood even back when he first met Paula’s father that there was something more subtle and insidious that couldn’t possibly have to do with Giygas.

And even before, when police officers charged Ness in Onett, batons matching cruel smiles, all to prove he was “strong” enough to walk the road to Twoson on his own.

And even before, when Picky would sleep under trees with black eyes that left Ness guessing between Pokey or his father as the culprit.

“Where are you going to go?” Ness said.

Paula shrugged. “Fourside, maybe. Monotoli owes me one for kidnapping me. We’re on friendly enough terms now that I’d feel comfortable staying at his place before I can find a job and rent an apartment of my own.”

Paula had to be smart enough to know that teenage jobs payed below living wage, and that any decent apartment would require a co-signer.

“Could you leverage your fame to support yourself, somehow?”

“The world hates me, remember?”

Oh, right.

“And please don’t ask me if I can comply with my parents’ demands to say,” Paula said. “I’d rather live on the streets or in an orphanage than go through conversion therapy.”

Paula took the picture on her dresser out of its frame, rotating it around as the photo-finish sheen illuminated different parts of the Polestar Daycare. Then a fire flared to life from her hand, bright enough that Ness had to shield his eyes. When the spots in his vision faded and he looked back, Paula’s hand only held ash.

Then she laughed.

“I’m more hopeful then I’ve been in a long time,” she said. “If I must fall, at least I’m free for this moment. If only it could last forever.”

Jealousy rose unbidden in Ness. He immediately knew that it wasn’t fair, since Paula had _real_ problems that were more important than… whatever he had to deal with. Still, what would it be like to feel unshackled? He remembered laughing and smiling during his journey to defeat Giygas with his friends, but that carefree joy was so distant to him now that he wondered if it had ever been real.

No. Paula was here, and Paula was now. Ness’ own existential crisis had no resolution in sight, so better to worry about someone he could help.

“Why don’t you live with my family for a while?” Ness said. “If I explained the situation to my mom, she wouldn’t say no.”

Paula’s face lit up for just a moment. “I couldn’t impose.”

“Please, Paula. There’s no reason you have to suffer alone when I’m here to support you.”

Paula took a deep breath. “That does seem to be the best option for me, doesn’t it? I’m going to rein in my hope until you get actual confirmation from _both_ of your parents. And if I do live with you, I want to do just as much for you and your family as you’re doing for me.”

Ness nodded, and then the realization set in. Assuming the plan went forward, there really was no backing out of his relationship with Paula. He always knew that it would come to this, sooner or later. He just expected it to be more in the “later” category.

And he always knew that his answer would be the same. His own wishes were a drop in the bucket compared to easing Paula’s pain. He would do whatever she wanted until she could be happy, even if it took Ness his whole life to do so.

#

**209X:**

Without pausing to consider whether or not he should follow her instructions, Ness walked over and sat down next to Hinawa.

“None of the clones are old enough to have a child Lucas’ age,” Hinawa said. “Unless he is a clone himself. So it is strange that he thinks I am his mother.”

Why would being a clone make a difference? Unless clones must be designed to mature rapidly or come into life in their teenage years. Made sense, if LifeTech wanted them to be effective workers.

“He claims to be from the future,” Ness said.

Hinawa nodded. “Some of his memories don’t make sense for this world. Did he ever mention having a twin brother?”

“Not that I know of. Why?”

“I see him standing by a spear of light impaled into the ground. In his arms is a boy in what I think is military wear, with a helmet rolling off to the side. The boy has the exact same face as him, except with red hair. His face is pale from blood loss, and they both know that he will die soon. I don’t suppose he mentioned any of this to you.”

“He didn’t.”

In fact, it seemed like a major invasion of privacy that Hinawa was telling this to him now. Could she sift through the memoires of anyone around her? So she must know what happened between him and Paula.

“I can usually only tell what people are thinking about in the moment. I won’t pry into your past with Paula. Though I know enough to basically predict how it goes.”

Her smile made a shiver run down Ness’ spine.

“And I can keep Lucas’ privacy from now on, if you wish. I just saw that you didn’t trust him. And…” Hinawa stared out past the stream, until grass hit steel wall. “I wish to know what will become of me.”

Oh. Now Ness must look like an asshole for judging a poor clone wanting to latch onto the only answers she had. He reminded himself to keep his thoughts in check, to hide both his judgment and his secrets.

“No, you’re right.” Hinawa sighed. “I can’t help my PSI, but I shouldn’t spill all of his secrets to you. Especially since you have your own troubles to deal with.”

Right. Ness _did_ have a reason for being in the Empire Porky Building. “Do you know where Jeff is?”

“Jeff.” Hinawa glanced over at him. “To answer that question, I need to look into your eyes to figure out who this person is. I may see more than you will wish me to. Is that acceptable?”

The honest answer was no, but right now Ness didn’t have any leads going forward. Using the power of a psychic could give Ness a head start, if he could trust Hinawa to do what she was telling him. And while that was a big if, she probably wouldn’t ask for his permission if she just planned to force him under mind control anyway.

“What will it feel like?” Ness said.

“Absolutely nothing, on your end.” Hinawa smiled. “If you feel some of my energy leaking out, that’s a sign that you should run.”

Both reassuring and terrifying.

“Seeing you nervous makes me want to give you a hug.” Hinawa’s hand drifted towards his shoulder. Sensing his anxiety, she scooted away. “Not in that way, Ness. Like you were my son. I’m not sure where that impulse comes from. Unless…”

She turned her head back and forth to crack her neck, and during the motion Ness saw her look Lucas in the eye before staring back into the lazy stream water.

“Ah, yes,” Hinawa said. “I see. Well, I am now realizing I hate to see you uncomfortable. I wouldn’t want to put you in a situation where you are vulnerable. I can make a hypothesis about this Jeff person without delving deeper into your mind.”

Ness glanced over. “Look into my eyes, Hinawa.”

Hinawa hesitated, the serene smile dropping from her face. “Are you sure?”

“So long as I don’t feel anything, I’ll trust that you’re not messing with my mind.”

Hinawa met his gaze. After a moment of eye contact, she flinched.

“Everything all right?” Ness said.

Hinawa smoothed out her red dress. “Yes. Of course.”

She cleared her throat and relaxed her shoulders, her dark irises seeming to search his own like a thief rummaging through a vault. Whereas before her expression looked unreachable, now she looked like a beaten child that just finished crying.

Was Ness hurting her?

“Don’t worry about me,” Hinawa said. “If you wish to assist, emptying your mind would be helpful.”

Ness nodded, the back of his throat dry. Poo taught him the basics of meditation when they journeyed the world together five years ago, and the emptiness became the one true friend Ness could turn to when nobody else was around.

But if he closed his eyes, Hinawa could do anything and he wouldn’t know until it was too late.

“You do not have to follow my suggestion,” Hinawa said, “Or you could do your best with open eyes.”

Ness gave a quick nod and started his meditation by focusing on simple details of Hinawa’s face. After a quick glance, he decided on her eyelashes. Each dark line was thick as mechanical pencil lead, with a slight curl that was subtle enough to look natural. They really did look quite conventionally attractive. If it wasn’t so hard for Ness to be allured by girls, he would probably be smitten with her.

No thinking. Right. He continued to focus his gaze on her still lashes until his mind started to sink in the emptiness. This was the precarious moment. Any sort of reaction to the calm would throw him off, just like when he was about to fall asleep. So he kept his mind slippery, letting images and worries fall to the side. He sunk deeper and deeper into the void.

Then he felt it in the back of his skull. The darkness. It crept on him, first the loneliness, then the despair, and finally the blend of panic and resignment so organically interwoven that it had to be a new emotion of its own. The air was heavier around him, almost too thick to breathe. He tried to open his mouth to speak and found his body without the will to move an inch.

It was only then that he was reminded why he stopped meditating alone in a dark room.

“Ness.” Hinawa grabbed both his shoulders. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

“I…” His own voice sounded distant. “I’m sorry.”

“I should be the one apologizing, Ness. I’m afraid I have to break my promise about not messing with your mind.”

Hinawa gripped his arms. Sparks flew off her hands, and emotions flooded into Ness the next moment. He jolted up, the same panic when waking up from a nightmare. After a moment, the world returned to normal, and Ness could hear the trickling of the stream in the background. If anything, the grass seemed greener and the air tasted sweeter than moments before.

“Did you…?” Ness left the words hanging. He wasn’t sure what she did.

“Emotions are just a result of neurotransmitter balances, right? I used PSI to tell your body to pump out more.”

So he felt so little emotion that it put his body out of whack? Which meant that in that moment, he was experiencing…

“Ness, are you all right?”

An arm wrapped around his side. He looked over to see Paula on her knees, pulling him close as she sized up Hinawa. Behind her were Lucas and Dr. Andonuts. Ness glanced over to the entrance of Hinawa’s room to see the momentarily-open glass barrier close shut.

“I’m fine,” Ness said. “Hinawa here was just trying to help me.”

Paula paused at the word “Hinawa” but made no other comment. Dr. Andonuts sneered and walked towards Hinawa, leaving footprints of crushed grass behind him. Hinawa straightened her posture, took a deep breath, and offered her normal serene smile as she sat in his shadow.

Dr. Andonuts slammed his shoe into Hinawa’s face. Lucas sprang into motion right as it happened, grabbing onto her arm before she could topple back into the stream. As he pulled her up to a standing position, Ness rose to his feet. Dr. Andonuts let out a growl and kicked Hinawa again, this time in the shin. She flashed a pained smile towards Ness and said nothing.

“I don’t care how useful you are as a research specimen, you will be a lucky creature if Master Porky decides to let you live after harming his esteemed guest.” Muttering to himself, “Give a clone an inch and they’ll take the whole mile.”

Paula’s grip on Ness loosened. She probably figured that Hinawa wasn’t on Pokey’s side after Dr. Andonuts’ display.

“Mo-I mean Hinawa.” Lucas ran a hand over the bruise on her forehead from the first kick. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than Ness was a few moments ago, dear.” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Thank you for your concern, but I am perfectly fine.”

Dr. Andonuts patted the tufts of hair he had left and bowed towards Ness. “My dearest apologies. We pride ourselves in keeping our property in line, so this is quite an embarrassment. You have my word that she will be dealt with for her behavior.”

“How many times do I have to repeat that she was _trying to help me?_ ” Ness stepped up to Dr. Andonuts and raised his chin to look down at the scientist. “And I’m pretty sure she succeeded.”

Dr. Andonuts let out a nervous chuckle. “I am glad you were not bothered, young Ness, but her touching a real person like you was _highly_ inappropriate. There are others who survived the virus injection. We do not have any need of this specimen.”

From the corner of his eye, Ness saw Lucas stiffen. Ness exhaled and twisted the knob on top of his glass ring. A blade made of ice-blue glass appeared in his hand. Just like Lucas said, it was heavier at the far end than most swords would be, although as a whole it was dynamic and light. But Ness wasn’t here to test its weight.

He held the blade up to Dr. Andonuts’ neck. “You will _not_ lay a finger on her. Understand?”

“I…” Dr. Andonuts coughed. “I suppose Master Porky would want me to be courteous and heed the wishes of our honored guest.”

“Good.” Ness twisted the ring the other way and the sword disappeared. “I hope I don’t have to remind you again.”

He figured he should be kicking himself for revealing his trump card. It probably hadn’t accomplished anything, since Dr. Andonuts could grovel at Ness’ feet until he was in private and could dispose of Hinawa without anyone knowing.

He was too tired to care.

“Now,” Dr. Andonuts said, “I believe it is time for us to escort you away to prevent further dangers.”

“We weren’t done talking.”

“Ah, but…” Dr. Andonuts glanced at Ness’ glass ring. “Please, Young Ness. I don’t want anything to befall you while Master Porky is extending his hospitality.”

 _It is all right, Ness,_ Hinawa’s voice echoed in his mind. _I learned everything about you that I need to._

Ness glanced back. Lucas was still hovering next to her, but aside from a couple of bruises at least she didn’t look injured.

 _Will you be all right?_ Ness tried to project the thought out to Hinawa.

_I’m not about to let them haul me off to the meat grinder, if that’s what you mean._

_…Uh, is that an actual thing?_

_Don’t worry about it. Jeff is… here, but not here. Dr. Andonuts seems to think that he is straddling a world between two dimensions._

Ness nearly snorted out loud. Clearly Porky put ridiculous ideas about Jeff into Dr. Andonuts.

 _I wouldn’t be so sure that his memories are fake,_ Hinawa sent. _Andonuts views Jeff as the enemy. He seems rather vexed that even Porky is too scared to track Jeff down, wherever he went._

Wait, so Jeff was in a place so dangerous that even Pokey, with a spider mech and zero sense of self-preservation, refused to follow? If that were true, Jeff being free from Porky might not exactly be good news.

 _Thanks for your help,_ Ness thought. _Sorry I got you into trouble._

_Sorry I couldn’t be more help. And…_

_And?_

_When I mentioned your pain, I didn’t know how bad it was. How do you live with it every day?_

_It’s not so bad when you don’t have a choice. Plenty of people get depression, Hinawa. I’m just a water droplet in a rainstorm._

_And every life matters. Perhaps you would feel better if you opened up to Paula about how exactly you lost your PSI._

The hairs on the back of Ness’ neck stood up. Out of everything, why did she have to see _that?_

_You know she would understand, Ness._

“Uh, Young Ness?” Dr. Andonuts wiped sweat off his brow with a ragged cloth. “If you would please follow me.”

 _One last thing,_ Hinawa said. _You don’t have to live with your pain. There’s… something you fear, lurking beneath the surface. Sooner or later, it’s going to get out. I’m amazed you’ve managed to keep it down for so long. Once it surfaces, you’ll have to face it head-on._

_You can’t be any more specific than that?_

_Excuse me for not being able to give you details on something you’re trying to hide from everyone, including yourself. I think you’ll know it when it happens._

As if Ness didn’t have enough to worry about.

_Thanks for your help, Hinawa. Sorry again._

Ness sensed amusement from the other end of the telepathic line. _People might start to worry about your sanity if you keep apologizing to clones._

Well, then they would find out how much Ness cared about their opinions.

“All set?” Paula said, her raised eyebrow conveying, _you are going to tell me exactly what’s going on when Pokey can’t listen in on us._

Ness nodded and followed Dr. Andonuts out of Hinawa’s enclosure. When he glanced back, Lucas was still there, holding Hinawa’s hand.

Dr. Andonuts cleared his throat. “Friend of Young Ness. It would reassure us if you did not touch the clone. Please, right this way.”

“They’re having quite the rapid-fire telepathic conversation,” Paula whispered. “You think Hinawa is his…”

Ness nodded, and Paula’s expression softened.

“So at least we know he’s not a _completely_ heartless monster,” she said, this time loud enough for Dr. Andonuts to hear.

Lucas nodded to Hinawa and walked out the caged field, hands in pockets as he stepped back onto white tile. When the glass barrier slammed shut behind him, Lucas whirled around, eyes wide as he stared back at Hinawa. She cocked her head, smiled, and waved goodbye. Lucas took a deep breath and turned away, clenching his jaw when he made eye contact with Dr. Andonuts.

“You are all such strange children.” Dr. Andonuts adjusted his glasses. “Now it is time for you to meet-”

“Hold it, geezer. I can take things from here.”

A girl wearing blood-red boots and an ocean-blue hoodie walked around the corner, arms crossed and mouth twitched upwards into a smirk. Ness noted her pink hair, and then remembered what Lucas said earlier about looking for a girl with that feature.

Pink hair was probably common enough in the city, but even this girl’s roots were colored like cultivated roses. And out of the corner of Ness’ eye, Lucas tensed.

“Heyo, Tazmily kid,” the girl said. “Aw, what’s with the stiff posture? It’s okay, Lukey. You can loosen up around an old friend.”

“Lukey?” Paula said, raising an eyebrow.

And more importantly, her words confirmed that she was indeed the person Lucas was searching for. The same one Alec and Wess mistook Paula for in the dark streets of the city.

Kumatora.

“Careful, Paula,” Ness said, “She can use PSI.”

“Figured that out, thanks.” Paula raised her arms in a defensive position.

“Whoa, whoa.” Kumatora extended her arms out to the side and shrugged. “Who says that this needs to escalate to violence? You heroes of the past are so trigger-happy.”

Lucas glanced at Ness and Paula. “There is no need for you two to get involved in my personal squabbles. Dr. Andonuts, if you wouldn’t mind-”

“Not so fast, Mr. ‘Protect all life in this world’.” Kumatora shoved a finger at Lucas. After a moment, she adopted the smile of a hissing cobra. “Oh, it _is_ good to see that you haven’t changed one bit, though. Making friends with the people who are responsible for all of our pain and suffering.”

“Hey, rosy cheeks,” Paula said, crossing her arms at Kumatora. “You got a bone to pick with us? Why don’t we just settle it in an alley somewhere? Nobody will ever have to find your remains.”

Kumatora stiffened. Ness’ heart skipped a beat.

Then Kumatora threw her head back and laughed.

“Okay, Lukey, I’ll admit that I like this one. You should have led with how your little companion here dropped the whole ‘shy maiden’ act we saw in that theater.”

Paula’s face twisted in rage. Despite the situation, Ness bit back a laugh.

“Now, Andonuts.” Kuma walked up and flicked the back of his bald head. “Get your nutz outta here before I start disintegrate those tufts of hair on your head.”

 _Careful, Ness,_ Hinawa’s voice echoed in his mind. _Kumatora isn’t letting me into her mind, but Andonuts recognized that phrase as a secret code. I wish I could get past his fear and figure out for what…_

Really? That phrase in particular? Well, Hinawa had no reason to lie.

Dr. Andonuts nodded at Kumatora twice before scurrying away, lab coat flapping behind him as he turned the corner. Kumatora released a sigh and leaned back, putting her hands on the back of her head as if she were about to flop down onto the beach. Ness kept his expression neutral. Best not to show that Hinawa was feeding him information, even if Kumatora could probably detect her PSI.

“So much better now that he’s gone, am I right or am I right?” Kumatora said.

“Cut to the chase, Kuma,” Lucas said, voice exasperated. “What are you here for? Give me one good reason to hold off on finishing the ass-kicking I was giving you.”

Kumatora scoffed. “You mean back in our timeline? I was obviously winning that, or else you wouldn’t have taken us back here.”

Lucas frowned, confusion written across his face. Assuming neither Kumatora and Lucas were actively lying, neither one of them initiated the time-travel on their own. Perhaps the combined force of their PSI clash messed caused unintended effects?

“Could you please spare us your rivalry and let me know if I need to bury you under the weight of a skyscraper?” Paula said.

“That might depend on how much the quiet kid continues to creep me out,” Kumatora said. “Though I guess he was always silent even in the film.”

It took Ness a moment to realize that Kumatora was talking about him.

“You’re not actually brainwashed, are you?” Ness said.

“Aww, Lukey.” Kumatora made an exaggerated frown at Lucas. “You were concerned about me because you thought I was weak enough to let myself get mind controlled by people as _completely fucking stupid_ as the former pigmasks? I’m not sure whether I should feel touched or insulted.”

“Then why would did you join them? And if you were some sort of undercover operative, why did you face me down at Leder Mountain?”

“I was using them, Lucas. And then you got in my way.”

Lucas’ eyes turned dangerous. “That’s not like you.”

Kumatora let out a chuckle. “Oh, of course. Someone does something aggressive or nasty, and it just means that they’re not acting to their true selves. Plot twist,” sparks flew off Kumatora’s nails, “Some people are just filth. Many people in Tazmily were like that, you know. Like your drunk-ass, deadbeat father. It just took a while for the darkness to come out.”

“Don’t you dare talk about my dad that way ever again.”

“I know that Lucas mentioned that some of the same people started causing trouble after he saved the world,” Ness said. “The… pig masks?”

“Close enough,” Lucas muttered.

“Is that why you’re mad at him?” Ness said. “That he gave them a second chance?”

“At least somebody’s been paying attention,” Kumatora said. “Lukey, do you remember the talk we had before I disappeared?”

“Was that the one when you asked me if it was a mistake to save everyone?”

Kumatora sighed. “I knew that you weren’t going to change your mind. Even after they ruined our world a second time, you didn’t want to harm them.”

“So you joined the group that was harming the world,” Paula cut in. “Was working on building up their trust. It probably helped that you genuinely weren’t working with Lucas and his faction. And then you planned to…”

“I knew someone with more brains than Lukey here would understand.” Kumatora cracked her knuckles. “I was going to kill every last one of them with my own hands.”

“So the pigmasks turned you into a monster too,” Lucas said, reaching into his pocket as he approached her with silent steps. “Just a different kind.”

“If protecting our world makes from those who harm it makes me a monster, then so be it.” Kumatora extended a hand. “You know, Lucas, sending me here was a blessing in disguise. Now you have no choice but to help me.”

Lucas halted. “And why is that?”

“Because you know the calamity that destroyed the world? It’s about to happen. And you’re going to help me make sure that Ness and Paula don’t stop it.”


	7. Claus

**Two and a Half Years ago:**

Ness didn’t realize he left the bathroom door open until Paula walked in on him vomiting into the toilet. Immediately, his self-hatred doubled. She was going through such a hard time that her own parents refused to house her, and instead of helping her, Ness was keeling over a toilet.

“What happened?” Paula walked over and knelt next to him, running her fingers through his hair. “And what can I do to help?”

Ness flushed the toilet. “I think my stomach didn’t agree with the chicken last night.”

Paula raised an eyebrow. “It was perfectly well-cooked.”

Ness shrugged. “I don’t feel like I have the flu. Just like barfing some more.” He blinked. “Sorry. I should spare you from the details.”

He felt a flick on his shoulder. “I saw you vomit at least three times while fighting Master Belch, remember? It’s a little insulting that you think I can’t handle a bit of bile and stomach acid.” She sniffed the air. “And at least your house has a fan going.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Ness. I was just curious if I could help make you feel better.” She grabbed onto his hand and squeezed. “Are you sure it was the food? Nobody else had trouble with it.”

“I don’t know.”

Paula sighed. “I know you hate to hear this, but you’ve been vomiting a lot more since I moved in.”

“There must be stomach bugs going around.”

“Except nobody else is getting sick. And you haven’t been sleeping well. You don’t eat nearly as much as you used to. Even Tracy mentioned something to me about how haggard you look.”

Ness shrugged. What else could he say?

“I can tell that you’re stressed,” Paula said. “And I know that it started when I moved into your room six months ago. If you tell me what’s going on, maybe we can fix it together.”

“What could possibly be wrong?” Ness forced a smile. “I’m lucky enough to have the best girlfriend in the world.”

Paula’s face grew distant in an instant, hitting Ness like a punch to the gut. She stood up and smoothed out her dress, facing away from him.

“I see,” she said. “Then I’ll be on my way.”

Ness sprang to his feet as Paula stepped out into the hallway.

“Wait,” Ness said. “I’m sorry, Paula.”

“Don’t apologize when you didn’t do anything wrong.” She held the door to the bathroom, ready to slam it shut. “I just need some time to myself right now.”

“What did I do?” Ness said.

Paula started to walk off.

“I never meant to hurt you, Paula.”

She froze. After a moment, she released a sigh. When she finally turned around, Ness saw that her jaw was clenched.

“I never meant to hurt you either, Ness. How do you think it makes me feel, knowing that the person I love more than anything in this world is suffering because of me? And that when I try to help, he pretends like there’s not a problem while I can see his pain?”

Seeing the aching in her eyes, Ness didn’t deny her words. Instead, he looked down at the ground.

“That’s why I want you to tell me what I’m doing to make you so stressed.” Paula took a deep breath. “I’ll do anything to make you happy. But I need to know how.”

“I wish I knew.” Ness looked up at her. “I wish I knew why I feel the way I do. I love you, I _know_ I do, but…” He cringed at the words he knew would come spilling out of his mouth. “I just get nervous about everything when you’re around. Probably because I care about you so much. It’s not your fault, I promise. It’s just something that I need to work on.”

Paula’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank you for being honest with me. Though I’m still not sure it’s a good sign for you to be _this_ concerned about me.”

“I know it’s not. With time, I promise we can go back to being a perfect happy couple again.”

“We should never aim to be perfect,” Paula said. “I just hope that I’m enough for you.”

Just like a dagger to the heart. “Of course you are. I love you more than anything.”

Paula nodded, but didn’t look reassured. “As I see it, there are a few different options. If you need some space for a while, I could probably move into Tracy’s room instead. She’d complain, but she wouldn’t refuse.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Another option that’s a bit on the risky side is for us to take a big leap together. Sharing an intimate moment could bring us together and make us realize that all these minor worries aren’t such a big deal.”

“You mean…”

“Might as well come out and say it.” Paula smirked. “I’m talking about sex.”

Anxiety hit Ness with the full force of a truck. Out of everything he expected to deal with in this relationship, sex was about the last. High school health class showed videos of boys trying to pressure girls into having sex to demonstrate the importance of saying no, and he would never make anyone uncomfortable like that in the first place. He couldn’t have imagined that he would have anything else to worry about.

“Not… exactly the reaction I expected.” Paula raised an eyebrow. “This is why I worry about not being enough for you, by the way. If you don’t think I’m pretty enough, you can just come out and say it. I’m sure it will sting, but better to know now instead of years down the line.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just, uh, a little surprising.”

Paula crossed her arms. “It can’t be that much of a shock. I’ve been dating an attractive boy for a year and living at his place for six months. And I don’t have to care about that religious ‘no sex before marriage’ rule anymore. I’ve been horny enough being around you on a regular basis that I’m shocked I didn’t bring it up sooner.”

The anxiety came back in full force. Paula wasn’t offering sex, but genuinely _wanted_ it? Which meant that if Ness said no, he wasn’t just being polite. He was actively disappointing her. Why did health class never teach him what to do in these situations?

“But your face is all the response I needed.” Paula sighed. “I don’t mind waiting until you’re ready, of course. Anything else would qualify as abuse at a minimum. I just… well, I thought I understood boys better than I do, I guess.”

“Sorry.”

“Ugh, it’s so annoying to keep hearing that word come out of your mouth. Don’t apologize for having your own needs, Ness. And let me know if there’s anything I can do to be more attractive.”

Heat rose in Ness’ cheeks. “Nothing like that. You’re perfect the way you are.”

Paula wagged a finger at him. “What did I say about being perfect?”

Right. Being perfect was impossible. Being enough was all Ness could ask for.

But what if who he was would never be enough?

#

**209X:**

Ness watched as Lucas stared at Kumatora, mouth agape.

“Kuma,” Lucas said, “Why would we _want_ the apocalypse to happen?”

“Oh, I know.” Paula cracked her knuckles as she stepped in front of Ness. “Miss troll doll over here is going to tell you that the events of the past need to play out exactly the same for your present to remain how it is.”

“Yes and no.” Kumatora smiled, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t give two shits about our timeline, Lucas. Nor do I especially care about my own life, or yours. But it’s true that I don’t trust anyone else to see my mission through. If you people hadn’t shown up at the Nowhere Islands, maybe I wouldn’t have learned what I needed to about the darkness within the human heart. Maybe then, the Magypsies would still be alive and I wouldn’t be as callous as I need to.”

And what _was_ her mission, exactly? To kill anyone she identified as a threat? Friend of Lucas or no, Ness would have to defeat her if she turned dangerous on innocents. Assuming he could do more than get captured as a hostage, anyway.

“Kuma, you can’t possibly hold that against me.” Lucas’ voice sounded strained. “The Magypsies knew their time was coming. They met their fate with a smile.”

“And we did a shit job of watching over the world in their stead.”

“Don’t act like they were perfect, Kuma.”

“If this is about Fassad-”

“They sent my brother chasing after a Drago when they knew it would kill him.” The weariness on Lucas’ face faded into cold anger. “They were just as monstrous as we were, Kuma. And so are you.”

Kumatora’s smug smile broke. For just a moment, she fumbled for the words.

“I… didn’t know that.”

“But that’s not going to change the mind of a killer like you, is it?”

Ness exchanged a glance with Paula. If the heat between the two continued to rise, there might not be much of a skyscraper left by the time they finished. Adding in Hinawa’s message that Kumatora communicated with Dr. Andonuts in code…

“Let’s go, Lucas,” Ness said. “She’s not going to listen.”

Lucas clenched his fists. “I can’t abandon her.”

“Kumatora?” Ness said. “I know she used to be your friend, but she’s not on our si-”

Ness let the word hanging when Lucas exhaled through enraged nostrils as large as a bull’s. He didn’t mean Kumatora.

He meant Hinawa.

“Go on without me,” Lucas said. “I have a feeling that things are about to get messy.”

Paula put a hand on our shoulder. “I know you like Lucas, but this isn’t our fight. We can’t afford to let ourselves get distracted from finding Jeff.”

“Do what you want,” Ness said. “I’m staying.”

Paula flinched. “Why do you care so much about him?”

“Oh, lovely.” Kumatora barked a laugh. “Angst and conflict all around. Feels almost as good as ripping a spine out the back of pigmask scum.”

“I fear that you speak from experience on the second count,” Lucas said.

“Unfortunately, no. But have things your way, Lukey. Even if you don’t want to help me purify our new world, messing with the past is a bad idea. Do you remember what Leder told us about the calamity that ended the world?”

“He told us nothing about it.”

“Precisely.” Kumatora’s grin made her look like a lion stalking wounded prey. “Because the when and the how of the apocalypse _didn’t matter._ He told us that people knew eventually humans would end the world, and eventually we did. If we saved the world now, they would only find a different way to tear everything down in the future.”

“If the world ending really didn’t matter,” Paula said. “Then stay out of our way while we save our future and wait for people to fuck it up further down the line.”

“If only I could.” Kumatora wagged a finger at her. “But then Lucas and I would be so different that these versions of ourselves would basically be dead. If we were alive to begin with, that is.”

“I’m not afraid of being a different person,” Lucas said.

“Could have fooled me.” Kumatora frowned. “Then there’s the point that messing with the flow of time can lead to unintended consequences. Why take the risk?”

Paula growled. “To save people, you fucking-” Ness nudged her, and thankfully she left the rest unspoken.

“And most importantly,” Kumatora said, “A calamity in the future might not have survivors who want to start over. If we don’t let nature take its course here, next time might leave nothing left at all.”

“You have no faith that we can fix this world together?” Ness said. “If you wanted to help us, we could create a society without need for all this destruction.”

“The four of us, on our own?” Kumatora snorted. “How did you survive out in the wild? Even you must see that corruption will always slither in the dark no matter how much light we shine. But burning everything to the ground? That only requires an idiot with a match. I’m counting on you to make the right choice, Lucas. This is your last chance.”

After Kumatora’s ultimatum, the room fell silent. Lucas stared her down, his gaze unmoving as Kumatora cocked her head and extended a hand. Ness heard Paula exhale, and when he looked over she was deep in concentration, an expression similar to zoning out. Kumatora didn’t react, but Ness had to assume that she understood Paula’s focus would let her release a burst of PSI energy when she needed to.

Lucas took a step forward.

Kumatora’s smile widened as he took another step. She leaned forward as Lucas reached out with his left arm.

Ness frowned. He could have sworn that Lucas opened doors and carried objects with his right hand. Which meant…

Lucas pulled out a metal cylinder out of his right pocket, shoving it towards Kumatora. The tube flared to life as a beam of orange plasma extended out from it right into Kumatora’s arm. She recoiled back, hissing, and Ness could see a burn mark on her arm.

“If I’m as stubborn as you always say,” Lucas told her, “Surely you didn’t expect your words to sway me. PK Love Ω.”

A set of glowing blue lines converged on Kumatora, exploding into a burst of hexagons. The force threw Kumatora sideways into the glass wall. Paula extended a hand forward and icicles rained down from the ceiling onto Kumatora, leaving small cuts on her skin.

“Lifeup γ,” Kumatora muttered, and the cuts on her body disappeared.

Ness broke into a run, turning the knob on his ring and feeling smooth glass of a sword hilt in his hand. He sliced at Kumatora’s waist, but she scurried out of the way and his blade got trapped in the glass wall, leaving cracks and causing the clone behind the barrier to shrink back. Ness flashed a sheepish smile to her before whirling to face Kumatora.

“Ah, looks like backup arrived just in time.”

Right after Ness processed Kumatora’s words, searing pain shot up his arm and he jerked back. He swung his blade at the attacker by reflex. As he pivoted his body, he saw that his new assailant was a figure in a what looked like a pilot’s helmet. They carried the same orange beam sword as Lucas. Ness looked past the glass on their helmet at the singular ice-blue eye.

The attacker’s eye didn’t even twitch as they lunged at Ness, delivering a round of slices and stabs so fast that he couldn’t track each one. He staggered back, only holding onto the will to keep a hold on his sword.

Fighting monsters, mythical creatures, aliens, and unknowable creatures of vast darkness was one thing. Facing this… being with a person’s body but motions too sleek and fluid to be human was something even facing down Giygas couldn’t prepare him for.

And of course he met his greatest challenge without access to PSI. If only he hadn’t been such a worthless _fucking idiot_ on that night.

The masked figure darted towards Ness again, and he knew that he was already dying. Something inside of himself and his friends gave him the ability to delay seemingly normal wounds until healing could arrive, but even this power wouldn’t last for more than a few seconds.

Right before the masked attacker could strike again, flames erupted from the ground between the two of them. The blistering heat was close enough to Ness that he nearly fainted, but at least it drove the assailant back. A hand fell onto his arm, and he recognized the touch as Paula’s. She gripped him harder than usual, but some of the tenderness from their relationship remained.

“Lifeup γ.” The incantation sounded like a plea.

Ness’ lightheadedness faded first, and hundreds of previous close calls gave him the presence of mind to survey the rest of the fight, placing trust that his cuts and bruises would vanish as well.

The wall of fire raged on, and Ness could see the masked figure through the flickering flames, his still iris gazing not at Ness and Paula but over to the side where Lucas probably was. No sign of Kumatora. Ness smiled to himself. Despite her big talk, she fled from actual danger like a cat with a tail between its legs. All they had to do was team up on this silent attacker and leave after defeating them.

The fire vanished, and Lucas walked up to the figure with his beam sword lowered.

“You were right, Claus,” Lucas said. “Here we are, meeting again.”

Claus rammed his sword into Lucas, who grimaced as the tip of the beam sword shoved him back.

“I should have known that you would come back to haunt me as well,” Lucas said. “All right, brother. Let’s dance one last time.”

Lucas lunged with almost the same blurring speed as Claus. The two orange beam swords spun in wide arcs, giving off sparks when the two connected.

Ness’ battle instincts didn’t let him pause at the display of two master warriors dueling. They didn’t let him stop and think about how Lucas called Claus his brother. They pushed him forward, running at full speed to assist Lucas. Blasts of ice and fire soared over his shoulder from behind and forced Claus to pause with each one he dodged.

Lucas circled around Claus as Ness approached, leaving his brother exposed for a flank. Ness attempted to ram his blade into Claus’ back right between his ribs, but a flick of a beam sword knocked Ness’ glass weapon away.

Claus whirled back and forth between Ness and Lucas, somehow managing to parry most of Ness’ attacks as well as Lucas’ from each side. It shouldn’t have been possible to keep track of two people’s actions at once, much less have the speed to defend from both, but Claus didn’t hesitate as each swift parry helped build a fortress around his body sturdier than stone.

And even flames that erupted from the ground and blasts of ice from the side fizzled out as Claus danced away from each attack, his posture carrying the lithe stoicism of a mechanical cobra as flames, ice, and blades missed by a hair’s width. Oh, the three of them combined occasionally landed an attack on Claus, but for each one they gave he dished out about ten in return with sword strokes fast enough to make his plasma blade blur in the air. Ness took the brunt of the attacks, with Paula blasting from the back lines and Lucas predicting Claus’ attack patterns well enough to remain relatively unscathed, if usually on the back foot.

“Guess you haven’t changed one bit,” Lucas said. “Though I suppose I haven’t either. Just the same scared kid who could never live up to his hasty brother.”

Lucas and Paula were forced to heal Ness enough that he wondered if he would be more useful staying out of their way. Thankfully, the harsh conditions of battle forced Ness to throw his self-pity aside. If he backed off then Claus would focus all his attacks on Lucas, and while Lucas swung each stroke with the grace of a blademaster, even he was human. If Ness retreated now, he would be condemning his friend to a quick death.

Despite the cuts burning across his arms, legs, and stomach, Ness smiled. Nothing like life or death situation to bring people together.

Nothing like struggling for each breath to make him care about living.

Right when Ness was on his last bit of energy, Paula darted into his field of view, brandishing the glass axe from the ring Jeff left for her. She hacked at Claus, forcing him away long enough for Lucas to mutter an incantation that surrounded the three of them in a white glow. The PSI power fed Ness stamina little by little, and the lines of pain on his body started to fade. If only PSI could remove his exhaustion too. Still, Ness needed to ask him to teach Paula that ability after this was all over.

When Claus leapt back in, Paula circled around to surround him from all sides. In contrast to Lucas, who fought with the poise of a perched crane, she put enough force into each swing to look more like a rampaging bull. The extra power would be unnecessary for any normal fight, but Claus had shrugged off enough of their attacks that maybe her raw power was needed. Unfortunately, Ness would have to wait to find out, as Claus continued to twist out of attacks coming from three angles.

Eventually, Paula did land a hit that sent him staggering back, but the ease at which he jumped back into an offensive assault told Ness that it wasn’t nearly enough. Paula growled as she blocked a storm of Claus’ attacks on the glass handle of her axe.

“We can’t win.” She panted, sweat dripping down her face. “Have to run.”

“I can’t.” Lucas leaned back to avoid a slice aimed at his neck. “Hinawa.”

Oh, right. Even ignoring any emotional attachment, Lucas would probably disappear if his mother died before getting a chance to give birth to him. At least, if the movies about time travel could be trusted.

 _Hinawa,_ Ness thought. _Speak to Lucas. We’re all going to die if he refuses to leave._

No response. Ness frowned, parrying a low swipe from Claus.

_Hinawa?_

Something strange was happening. So Ness did the one thing his combat instincts never told him to do.

He looked back over his shoulder.

Immediately, searing pain went up his left leg, but he could handle a few more wounds before he went down. It was a small price for confirming Ness’ seemingly impossible suspicion.

Because Hinawa was gone from cell, leaving only field and stream behind the glass wall.

“Let’s move,” Ness said. “She escaped on her own.”

“What?” Lucas glanced over himself, and took four different slashes to his chest in less than a second. “All right, let’s book it.”

Combat 101 was to never take your eyes off the opponent, but combat 102 was to ignore that rule when running away. Ness darted past Claus, turning the knob on his ring to deactivate his blade. It didn’t weigh much, but every bit of speed could make the difference between life and death. Lucas and Paula followed suit, and the three of them tore down the hallway together.

Ness realized the flaw in their plan when they turned the corner and approached the elevator. A creature like Claus who could handle two PSI-users and a veteran warrior certainly wouldn’t be stopped by a gently closing elevator door.

“Keep running,” Paula said. “I have a plan.”

Thankfully, Lucas didn’t argue. For all of Paula’s mistrust for him, Ness hoped she was grateful that he at least knew how to handle himself in life or death situations. If he were born in their time, perhaps the four chosen heroes would have been five instead.

Or maybe Lucas would have replaced Ness altogether. He tried not to linger on that thought.

The elevator door drawing closer and closer to him didn’t give him much of a choice. Paula thrust a hand forward and the button was pressed inward, lighting up orange. What Ness would do to get even the most basic telekinesis abilities back…

The elevator doors opened as Ness drew closer. He couldn’t afford to slow himself down for an eventual halt with Claus on his heels. Which only left one option.

Well, better to look like a buffoon from a Sunday morning cartoon than be sliced in half by a knockoff Darth Vader.

He barreled into the elevator with full speed, bracing himself with his shoulder as he slammed into the back wall. He fought through the throbbing that ran down his arm as Lucas and Paula flew into the back of the elevator right next to him. When he whirled around, he saw Claus charging forward with an arm extended.

Paula clapped her hands together and the doors started to slam shut at the speed of a bullet train. Yet somehow, Claus still managed to wedge a hand inside before the doors finished, and they closed on his knuckles.

Ness didn’t hesitate before running up and smashing a foot into Claus’ fingers that leaked through the doors. Too many close calls in the past to stop and worry about what the poor kid’s hand would look like. Claus’ plasma sword sliced through the bottom of the elevator door, grazing past Ness’ leg, but another kick sent Claus’ fingers popping back out the other side.

The doors finished closing and the elevator started descending.

Ness let himself exhale.

“Not bad,” Lucas said, wiping sweat off his brow. “I didn’t know that anyone else was so brutal in battle.”

As brutal as Claus? That was overselling it. But as brutal as Lucas…

“I can’t afford to let myself be weak now.” Lucas put a fist up to his chest and closed his eyes. “Porky, Kumatora, and my brother are all my problems. It’s up to me to clean them up.”

“We’re here for you,” Ness said. “Remember, this is our fight too.”

Lucas smiled. “Thank you, Ness. That does mean the world to me.”

“Careful with the word ‘we’,” came Paula’s voice. “I thought we came here for Jeff, not your little bromance with a time traveler.”

“We originally were on a quest to help fight Giygas,” Ness said. “And we helped the Runaway Five, Tony, and Apple Kid. Do you regret all that?”

Paula didn’t respond, other than to patch up her wounds with PSI. Ness released a sigh, and Lucas looked up at the ceiling for the rest of the elevator ride down.

Why did everything become more awkward in a cramped space?

#

Nobody needed to remind each other to prepare themselves for anything once the elevator door opened. Lucas pulled out his deactivated beam sword, and Paula kept a hand on her ring. Ness followed Paula’s suit. Better not to summon the weapon immediately to set off suspicion if nothing appeared to be wrong. After all, it was Kumatora and not Dr. Andonuts that released Claus on them. Who knew if the rest of Porky’s empire would mean Ness immediate harm?

He was grateful that he held off on brandishing weapons when the elevator opened on the ground level, where the only person present was the smiling receptionist. Lucas was the first one to exit, maintaining a casual walk as he tossed the deactivated beam sword hilt to himself. Paula kept her hand on her ring as she walked out, striking a fragile pose that still looked natural on her even after years of being true to herself.

Ness exited last, stuffing both hands in his pockets and avoiding eye contact with the receptionist. If Claus boasted superhuman strength and speed, who knew what qualities Porky’s other underlings were hiding?

The three of them walked through the ground level in agonizing silence. Ness almost wished that the clone would and pull a gun on him, just to end the suspense. But she didn’t speak a word to them as they made it to the front of the room with the opaque sliding glass doors.

“Guess we made it.” Lucas shared a smirk with Ness.

They stepped up to the doors, which opened to reveal the same set of fire-breathing dragons and descending stairs. And at the bottom of those stairs was a spider mech with a person inside who looked old and wrinkled despite still possessing the body of a child.

“What did you do with my beautiful specimen, Ness?” Pokey rasped.

“Guess you jinxed it, Lucas,” Paula said, twisting her ring and summoning her axe.


	8. How the World Ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! I know I haven't posted in a while (school and life have been rough) so here's a basic recap of what's happened in this fic so far:  
> -Ness (who lost his PSI) and Paula went to the Future to chase after Jeff  
> -They got attacked by Alec and Wess for protecting a clone before Lucas broke up the fight  
> -Porky invited them to the Empire Porky building and Lucas tagged along  
> -There Ness and co. meet Hinawa (a clone woman who told him to confront the darkness within himself), Kumatora (who wants the calamity to strike so that the world can start anew) and the Masked Man.   
> -On their way out, they run into Porky

**Two Years ago:**

Ness expected anxiety to tighten his chest as he knocked on the door of Polestar Daycare.

Instead, there was nothing.

Because, really, what was the worst that Paula's father could do? Spit at his feet and tell him that he was a disgusting person? Just a raindrop in a storm compared to what he already said about Paula.

Ness figured there was no point in sugarcoating the truth. Paula's dad was an awful person. But Paula still cried about her parents. Whispered through shaky teeth that she hoped that they could learn to accept her. And Ness' couldn't just stand by and watch while she suffered.

Paula's father opened the door. "What can I do for you on this-" the smile fell from his face when he met Ness' gaze. "Oh. It's you."

He slammed the door shut.

Ness knocked again. And again. And again. He stayed there for minutes, rapping on the door in sequences of two knocks before a pause.

"Go the fuck away," came the muffled voice through the door. "And never come back or I'm calling the police."

"I wasn't scared of Captain Strong back when I was twelve." Ness didn't bother hiding his sneer with nobody to see it. "What makes you think that the Twoson Police will put up any more of a fight? You might be upper-middle class, but that doesn't make you untouchable. Not like me."

Silence. Right when Ness started to wonder if Paula's father heard him, the door swung open. Mr. Polestar stood in the doorway, and oh boy Ness had seen mannequins look less stiff.

"What do you want." Paula's father crossed her arms.

"It's been a year. We need to talk."

"You'll find that my views have not changed. Paula is welcome back in this household when she cleanses herself of sin. You are not doing her any favors by setting her up for the flames of hell further down the line, you know."

"She was the one who bitch-slapped Giygas, remember? If God is as hateful as you think he is, he needs to be just as scared of Paula as she is of him." Ness forced a smile. "But I don't think that's the case. I think you're the one who's going to burn for an eternity after abandoning your daughter."

Okay, maybe not the most diplomatic of starts. Ness took a deep breath.

"So this is why you came?" Mr. Polestar's face twisted in disgust. "To throw threats and accusations against me? If you weren't the chosen hero-"

"Then you'd dispose of me just like you did your daughter. Trust me, I understand that much." Ness shrugged. "Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you. Not because I give a rat's ass about you, but because she does."

Mr. Polestar's face softened. "So there is a part of her that's still in there after all."

Ness gnashed his teeth together to stifle a sneer. "And there's a way that you can help. You know, if there's any compassion at all left in you."

Paula's father sighed. "I don't expect you to understand how hard this is for me, Ness. Anytime my daughter wants to reopen her arms to God, she is welcome back in our house. But if I yield and let sin behind this door, it will only be harming us in the long run. What I offer is more than many parents would."

Ness gritted his teeth, because he knew the last statement was absolutely correct. Many conservative Christian households would toss their children away with no hope of ever allowing them to return. He could see how Paula's father could view his own stance as moderate. From the sound of it, he might have loosened on the conversion therapy, if Paula were willing to pretend without being tortured into it.

And if Mr. Polestar wasn't just an extreme case, maybe it was the entire world that was dark and cold. When Ness and Paula fought Giygas, people from Winters to Scaraba prayed for their safety. Yet the moment Paula expressed her true self, they turned against her.

Maybe this world deserved to be ravaged by Giygas.

"She's never coming back," Ness said. "If it were up to me, she would never see you again in your life. But that's not what she wants."

"If she's staying with you, why talk to me?"

"I didn't say that either." Ness took a deep breath. "I… found a studio apartment for her in Twoson. Full kitchen, nice bathroom, already furnished. My mother is willing to pay her rent, with all the money we've been making from people popularizing our journey to defeat Giygas. But she's too young to sign a lease in her own name."

"So what you're asking is…"

"Paula's asking you to rent this apartment and let her stay there. It would bring you closer, assuming as you give her some distance. She'll never live with you. Otherwise, my mother will just rent a different apartment in Onett as a second living place for us so that Paula has her own space. The choice is up to you."

"I see." Mr. Polestar flashed a bloodless smile. "You've been having problems and want her out of your house."

Ness took a deep breath to deny Paula's father the satisfaction of seeing him angry.

"My sister's bratty and wants her room back to herself. All her complaining finally got to us." It was only half a lie.

"I will never accept this creature of sin that has replaced my daughter," Mr. Polestar said. "But I suppose it would be nice to have her close in case she ever changes her mind. Tell your parents and Paula that I will rent this apartment in Twoson for her. Money is no object for me."

Ness nodded. Good thing even someone as monstrous as Mr. Polestar could keep civil when the situation demanded it.

"Do you have a personal computer?" Ness said. "I can send you the property details through email."

"A letter will do fine."

Maybe he was just trying to be difficult, but Ness couldn't afford to call his bluff now.

"Then I will be off."

Ness turned around and walked off the doorstep.

"Ness."

"Hmm?" he looked back over his shoulder to see Mr. Polestar staring at the floor.

"When you brought Paula back to us, I could tell from the smile on your face that she meant a lot to you. I knew it was only a matter of time until you would ask to date her. And I was happy when you did, because it was clear that you would always be on her side. I never…" he drew in a shaky breath. "I never imagined that your devotion to her would be what tore us apart."

Ness walked off into the streets of Twoson without responding. Paula's father was no longer his problem. Now he had to worry about the logistics of moving Paula into a new apartment. Thank goodness his mom was savvy enough to find a place that had everything Paula would need at a price reasonable enough that she wouldn't feel like a burden.

Still, Ness wondered why he felt so relieved about someone he loved living further away.

#

Ness saw Paula rearing back to launch a blast of PSI energy at Pokey, and he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Please," Ness said. "Let me try to handle things with Pokey."

"Not this again." Paula rubbed her temples. "If Kumatora was right about one thing, it was that Porky is partially our fault. We should have killed him one of the _many_ times we had the chance."

"Maybe so," Ness said, too tired to argue, "But just let me try. If diplomacy fails, I promise I won't hold you back."

"Aw, you don't have it in your heart to care about someone like me?" Pokey mocked. "It makes sense. You were gifted _everything,_ Ness. Sweet parents from birth, friends from that prophecy, PSI from the heavens. I should have known that you wouldn't even begin to understand what it's like to live a life where not everyone worships you."

The words stung, and maybe because Pokey was right. Maybe all of Ness' problems stemmed from the fact that he was a chosen hero. If his victories and friendships were foretold, did they really come from _him?_

"He's already messing with you," Paula said. "Lucas, I know you told us about how he devastated your island. How about we take him out before he has the chance?"

"I'm actually with Ness on this one," Lucas said. "If we mess up my past, who knows what it will do to my present? I do want to rewrite history, but we need to understand what we're doing before we take any drastic actions."

"Well, guess I'm outvoted." Paula glanced back. "But if I see your brother again, Porky's going to wish he was never born."

"Do you hear that, Pokey?" Ness said, descending the stairs. "I just want to talk. Call off Claus?"

"Who, now?" Pokey said. "Did you bring Santa along with you?"

"The masked fighter that Kumatora unleashed on us."

"Ah, yes." Pokey pressed a button in his mech. "I am happy to oblige. It would have been a shame if you died before I got a chance to set eyes on you. After all, we are best friends, aren't we?"

A sickening feeling rose in Ness' stomach. "That ended the day you tried to kill me, Pokey. In time, we can become friends again. But this all needs to stop."

Ness kept walking until he reached the last row of fire-breathing dragon statues in front of the Empire Porky building, about ten stairs from the bottom. Any closer and he might not have time to react if Pokey decided to charge him.

"Oh, don't worry." Pokey licked his lips inside his mech. "This will all be over soon."

"What are you planning this time?"

"Since you asked so nicely, my dear friend, I can let you in on a secret." Pokey coughed. "This world is going to crash and burn."

"Kumatora already told us."

"Ah. Is that the pink-haired girl from the future? Names are hard for me, Ness. All but yours."

How was he supposed to respond to that?

"And did she tell you how the world was going to end?" Pokey said.

"You know?"

"Ah, yes." Pokey drew a slow breath. "Lifetech designs viruses as potential biological weapons against terrorist groups. But some of their creations are a little _too_ powerful. One day, one of them escapes, spreads across the world… I think you can picture the rest. So much delectable _suffering._ "

Viruses… Dr. Andonuts said that Hinawa was a test subject for a virus, and that she was one of the only survivors. Ness glanced over his shoulder and saw Lucas stiffen. He must be thinking about how almost an entire clone line of people who looked exactly like his mother died for the purpose of building a weapon that was fated to destroy the world.

"And why should we believe you?" Paula said.

"It's quite simple," Pokey wheezed. "I tell the truth because I want to see you squirm and struggle as you try to stop the end of the world from happening. I will watch as you pour every bit of heart and soul into trying to save the poor fools who live here. And then, Ness, I will laugh as you fail. As everything you believe in turns to dust. And then finally, when you have lost everything, when you are at my feet _begging_ me to bring it all back, I will kill you."

Ness narrowed his gaze at Pokey. If he could pretend not to care about Jeff, perhaps Pokey would forget all about him when the sparks flew between them.

"But that time is not now," Pokey said. "I want to watch you scatter like ants. So go on, Ness. Run away to your base and pray that I won't find you in the night."

"What if," Paula said, a flame appearing above her palm, "We decide to correct our mistakes and make sure that you can never hurt anyone ever again?"

In response, Ness heard the doors to the Empire Porky Building opening behind him. When he spun around, he saw hundreds of robots resembling Pokey shuffling out and marching down the stairs in a massive mob. Paula made a move to clap her hands together, but Lucas grabbed onto her wrist and shook his head.

"They'll counter your offensive PSI and self-destruct once they've taken enough damage," Lucas said. "We need to get out of here."

Paula frowned, but followed Lucas as he flew down the last steps. Ness tagged along in the rear, watching Pokey's eyes follow him as he ran around the spider mech.

"Scurry away, Ness," Pokey said. "But don't be late. When the clock strikes noon, I shall release the virus into the public from the top floor of my building. It will be a fitting end to our friendship, don't you think?"

True to his word, Pokey didn't follow as Lucas led Ness and Paula through a series of interweaving alleyways. Ness swore that each one smelled worse than the last, but with nobody chasing them he didn't really have the right to complain. Eventually, they emerged into an open park, which was empty in the dead of night save for a homeless person sleeping on a bench. Paula eyed them with a look of sympathy. Probably wondering if that would have been her a few years ago if her situation had been different.

"I don't want to do this," Lucas said, "But we don't have time to waste walking back, and any public transportation will allow Porky to track us."

"So we're teleporting?" Paula said.

Lucas grimaced. "It will give off a strong PSI signal, and with enough time they can even track where our destination is. But if we can believe Porky, this will be over at noon anyway."

Paula checked her watch, and then showed it to Ness. Just after 1:00 AM. Pokey did want them to hurry up, Ness supposed.

"And the good news is that it will draw attention away from my mother," Lucas said. "The police will be looking for her as well. I think we're better equipped to deal with that sort of trouble than she is."

Paula smirked. "One of these days, Ness needs to tell you about the time he beat up a police chief and got away with it."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Really. Between the two of you, Ness was not the one I expected to pick a fight with the police."

"More like they picked a fight with me," Ness said. "But that's a story for another day."

"I guess that's how it goes." Lucas shrugged. "Teleport γ."

Before Ness had a chance to respond, the world flashed white in front of his eyes.

#

The world reappeared around Ness as Lucas' room back in the bunker. No wind, no lurching motions involved in the teleport.

"Okay," Paula said. "So you can teleport inside buildings and underground tunnels?"

"I set up a tether here," Lucas said. "The process takes hours, so I didn't have the opportunity to set a teleportation checkpoint back at the Empire Porky Building. After we beat Porky again, I can show you how."

Paula nodded. "Looks like we have more important issues at hand. Porky knows where this bunker is, which means that nobody here is safe."

"Already on it."

Lucas walked up to the pencil sketch of a sunflower field taped above his bed, the lone decoration of any sort in the room. He paused, then drew a shaky breath.

"She always loved sunflowers," Lucas said. "After she died, I saw them in my dreams. There was this one where I was up in the sky, surrounded in a field just like this one. Her ghost floated just out of my reach, until I reached the edge of the horizon and jumped to catch her hand…"

Lucas tore the sketch off the wall, staring at it for a moment. He moved to fold the piece of paper, but stopped himself and let his arm fall to his side.

"I don't suppose you came to the future with any precious belongings on you?" Lucas said.

"We just brought ourselves and a good attitude," Paula said. "Oh, and our clothes. That's kind of important."

"I don't know if you should be talking about good attitudes," Ness said. "But yes, Lucas. We're fine, thanks for asking."

Paula elbowed him in the shoulder, and Lucas flashed a split-second smile. In that moment, Ness could see the anxiety in his eyes. One wrong move meant innocents dying while an ancient child in a spider mech laughed and wheezed. Ness wondered why he never felt that way when leading his friends into fights against Giygas' minions.

Maybe anxiety was something that crept up on him as the years passed. Perhaps it was irresponsible to wish he could go back to being a stupid kid who didn't worry about his friends getting hurt.

"I'll make an announcement to everyone," Lucas said. "You two sit tight for a minute, all right? They'll be looking for someone to blame, and you two are the natural targets."

Lucas glanced at Paula specifically.

"Sure." Paula shrugged. "Works for me."

Ness waited until Lucas exited the room and shut the door behind him before cracking a smirk.

"How do you feel about Lucas now?" Ness said.

"Guess I have no choice but to trust him." Paula crossed her arms. "We may know Pokey, but he knows _Porky._ Any semblance of your neighbor was burned to ash a long time ago, and we need Lucas' knowledge about what he's capable of."

"Glad I can always count on you to be practical." Though saying there was nothing left of Pokey did make Ness' stomach churn.

"One of my few positive traits." Paula sank down to the concrete floor, leaning on the back wall. "It was good to fight as a team again. I… enjoyed it."

"So did I." Ness grimaced. "Looks like I hate peacetime more than I expected."

"That makes two of us." Paula shook her head. "I really did think we were perfect together up to the point where we weren't."

Like a dagger to the heart. "I'm so sorry. I know this must be harder for you than you could convey in words…"

"Except it's not." Paula looked up at him. "Seeing you determined? Fighting for a cause you believe in once again? And sharing that cause with me? This is the happiest I've been in years."

Somehow, that hurt more than if she wanted him gone. "Even if we win, all we have to go back to is our regular lives."

"I know." Paula hugged her knees. "I don't want this day to end, Ness."

What could he tell her? That he felt the same way? That wouldn't change the fact that both of them were destined for a life where they didn't feel comfortable in their own skins. So instead, he just stayed quiet. Neither of them spoke a word until Lucas popped back in the room.

"Everyone else is packing up to teleport," Lucas said. "Meet us in the common room when you're ready." He glanced back and forth between Ness and Paula. "Did something happen between you two?"

"It's nothing," Ness said.

"Reliving old memories." Paula offered a weak smile. "Relationship stuff."

Ness guessed that she intended to scare Lucas away from asking more questions, but he only looked more intrigued.

"I didn't know that you two are dating each other," he said.

"Well, we _were_ dating each other." Ness shrugged, hoping to convey _please don't ask any more questions I'm begging you._

Lucas caught the motion and nodded. "Well, uh, good luck with whatever you're talking about. I'll see you out shortly."

He walked out of his room and shut the door behind him, leaving Ness and Paula alone again.

#

After a couple minutes of silence, Ness made the executive decision to walk out into the common area on his own. Watching people shuffle out of their rooms, yawning and rubbing their eyes, reminded Ness that it was the middle of the night. Sleep didn't sound so bad at the moment, even though it would only be mid-afternoon if he stayed in his time. Paula and Lucas probably needed to sleep at some point to refill their PSI energy, and Ness might as well follow suit to stave of the exhaustion for when it mattered.

Paula followed him out soon after, and within a few minutes everyone was packed and ready. Tracy could take a couple notes from these people about packing quickly for family vacations. Though as Ness surveyed the room, he noticed that most of them didn't have many belongings. Most had only a backpack, bulging with what Ness assumed were clothes and personal trinkets.

And as Lucas warned him, many of them shot him dark glares. Even more directed dirty looks at Paula, probably because her green hair made her look like a person from this time walking the streets. Funny how fitting in made Paula look like more of an outsider.

"I still don't think it's a coincidence, Lucas," Alec said. "The two of them show up, and then Porky magically has access to our computers."

"Of course it's not a coincidence," Lucas said. "Porky always had access to our computers, and was waiting for Ness to show up before he made his move. Him and Paula are our best hope of ever fighting back against Porky."

"Still," Wess cut in. "Why trust them when we don't have to?"

"Ness and Paula both saved my life," Lucas said. "If anyone doesn't trust them, you're on your own. Good luck hiding in this bunker where Porky knows your location or wandering the streets." The bags under Lucas' eyes seemed to sag. "I apologize for the short notice, but I don't have time to handle bullshit right now. Just let me know if you're in or out."

After a couple minutes of grumbling from all around, everyone agreed to go with Lucas. From the way they shrunk back into the walls and corners, Ness could tell that most of them weren't fighters. If Lucas abandoned them, they had nowhere to go.

"On the count of three, two, one…" Lucas snapped his fingers. "Teleport Ω."

The world around Ness faded to white again, same as when Lucas teleported them back to the bunker. After a few moments of standing alone in emptiness, the world rematerialized around him. If the floors and computers weren't covered from a layer of dust that must have taken years to accumulate, Ness would have questioned if they teleported at all. The entire structure of the new bunker was the exact same as the old one.

"Oh, I didn't mention," Lucas said, turning to Ness and Paula. "These were mass produced in the 2030s when nuclear tensions started to escalate again. Nobody uses them anymore, so we're free to travel between them. I put tethers in various ones around the world."

"But eventually they can track your PSI here, right?" Paula said.

Lucas shrugged. "We'll have to take more conventional transportation at some point to throw them off our scent. But that can wait until after we deal with Porky."

Everyone else was already dispersing into their new rooms. Which had the exact same layout as their old rooms. Talk about the easiest move of all time.

"We'll need to think up our plan of attack," Lucas said, "But my best ideas come to me when I'm wandering around or doing other activities. Are either of you similar in that way?"

"I'm going to do some research about LifeTech and what's going on in this world," Paula said. "Sorry."

"I don't know if I'll get any great ideas," Ness said, "But I'm happy to walk around with you."

"And Paula, you won't object if Ness goes with me?" Lucas said, raising an eyebrow.

"We were fucked back there without your help." Paula crossed her arms. "Not saying I like you, but I don't think you're going to betray us."

"I can accept that." Lucas turned to Ness. "I need to hang up this sketch and then I'll be right back, all right?"

He didn't wait for a response before heading into his new room. After he closed the door behind him, Paula let out a sigh.

"When we were fighting Giygas, I never really thought about the possibility that we could _lose_ ," she said. "But those people look terrified. Even if we win this time, what price will we have to pay?"

"I don't know. I still wonder if we could find some way to change the past before this moment to keep our future from being so mechanical and impersonal."

"I like this place." Paula looked wistful as she stared at the furthest wall. "This city's big enough that nobody cares about who I am. I can finally be myself without feeling hundreds of eyes staring down at me."

Ness didn't have a response to that, so he waited in silence. After about ten minutes, Lucas walked out of his room with puffy eyes. He sniffled before turning to Ness.

"Ready to go?"

Ness smiled. "Finally, a kindred spirit who wears shorts even when walking outside in nighttime."

"You two are both crazy." Paula rolled her eyes. "Have fun, shitweasels."

Ness laughed and followed behind Lucas, who shoved open a steel door as thick as a balance beam to reveal a set of stairs. Once they were walking up out of earshot, Lucas turned back to Ness.

"Do you know why she hates me?" he said.

"Insulting you means that she's growing more comfortable with you."

"Not that," Lucas said. "Just in general."

"Ah. I…" Didn't know? That wasn't entirely true. "I think you have a lot more in common with me than her, and she's focused on finding Jeff."

"And I'm distracting you, huh?" Lucas smirked. "You're a good friend to her, you know. And a better ex."

Ness blinked.

"You're right, Ness. She's jealous that I'm hitting it off well with you."

"I didn't say that."

"Because you were going out of your way to avoid saying it, even though it was what you were thinking."

Ness shrugged, and thankfully Lucas fell silent.

Despite experience with hiking across the world for multiple hours each day, stairs were another beast. By the time Ness reached the top, he was panting and hoping he didn't smell from all the sweating he had done over the past hour.

Lucas opened the door leading outside, and when Ness stepped out the scene was different than he expected. The bunker opened on an old dirt road by a field of wheat that swayed in the breeze under a clear sky of stars. Ness stared up at the heavens, noting the familiar constellations.

"Eagleland," Ness said. "We're in rural Eagleland."

"You know this place?" Lucas glanced over at him.

"This is where I live. I didn't think that there were any places like this left in the future."

"I'm guessing they're harder to find, but they're here." Lucas looked up at the stars and smiled. "It's nice seeing you happy for once."

"I used to stare at the stars with my sister," Ness said. "My mom scolded me for keeping her up past her bedtime, but we both found ways to sneak out. I pity any roadblock placed in front of a determined child."

Lucas laughed. "I'm glad we could show you a real night sky before we have to put everything on the line after the sun rises."

"And then one day, a meteorite fell from the sky," Ness said. "It summoned a warrior from the future who told me about my fate to defeat a great evil in the world. That was how my quest began. The dark skies have always been my friend."

"Sometimes, I wish I had a prophecy to follow." Lucas looked over at Ness. "That's a baseball cap, right? You just wearing it for style, or…?"

"I also play."

Lucas grinned. "There's a place I should probably show you, then."

He started off, and Ness followed behind. Maybe Ness should be more studious like Paula and think about how to take down Pokey, but the light feeling in his chest was a drug. For this moment in time, he could think back to his entire journey to fight Giygas and _feel_ the excitement in his memories. Normally, he was too weary to understand any force in the world powerful enough to make him smile.

After a few minutes of walking, Lucas came to a sudden halt.

"Ness." He turned around. "There's a question that's been on my mind for a while. And this is our first chance alone for me to ask it."

"Go ahead," Ness said.

"I've been watching you for a while, and I was wondering…" Lucas drew a deep breath. "No, I don't think it's fair. Too personal."

"Just ask. I won't be mad."

Lucas looked him in the eye. "Ness, are you also gay?"

In response, Ness froze.


	9. Under the Moonlight

**One and a Half Years ago:**

Ness was at Paula’s apartment watching TV when the phone rang. He took a deep breath when Paula hopped off the couch to walk over to where the where the phone was placed on the kitchen counter. She had the cordless kind, and liked to pace back and forth while conversing. Perhaps it was wrong for Ness to relish this moment alone, but keeping another person happy was a lot of work. And it seemed like he had fewer and fewer moments when he could take a step back and only think about his own needs.

“Oh, hi.” Paula’s face brightened as she held the phone to her ear. “Yeah, Ness is doing fine. You would not believe how hard it is to make that boy choose a show that he wants for once.”

“I can hear you,” Ness said.

“Hmm?” Paula’s face darkened. “What news?”

A pause. Ness tried to make out words from the voice on the other end of the phone, but it all sounded like muttering and static to him.

“Give me a second.” Paula rotated the phone away from her ear. “Ness, have you heard from Jeff today?”

“No. Did something happen?”

Paula turned back to her phone. “He didn’t hear anything either. What channel did you say?”

Another wait.

“All right, thanks for letting us know. Stay safe, all right? I don’t like jumping to conclusions, but there could be more to this than we realize. Nobody would mess with Ness or me, but you and Tracy aren’t exactly trained in combat.”

The voice from the other side passed before saying something in a hushed voice.

“They… made their choice.” Paula gripped the phone tighter. “If they are in danger, they’ll just pray for God to protect them. We’ll see how well that turns out for them.”

More muttering.

“You’re welcome to try telling that to people who used religion as an excuse to abandon their daughter.” Paula took a deep breath. “Sorry. I think I need some time to gather my thoughts. See you soon.”

A single sentence from the other line.

“Yeah, of course.”

More talking. Paula blushed.

“Thank you. That means more than me than you could know. Talk with you later.”

Paula hung up, sighing as she set the phone back into its charger. She walked over to Ness, plopped down on the couch next to him, and offered a nervous smile.

“Your mom sends hugs over the phone.”

She snatched up the remote from the coffee table in front of them and shuffled through channels until hitting Eagleland News Station. She put an arm around Ness’ shoulder as the screen flashed to show an overhead shot of Saturn Valley, followed by a cut to a reporter with a microphone.

_“This is breaking news from EGN. The search parties searching for Jeffery Andonuts and his father returned empty-handed. The Mr. Saturn witnesses confirmed that both father and son were present recently, though their concept of time creates difficulties in knowing when exactly they were last seen.”_

The screen cut to a Mr. Saturn with a microphone shoved in its face.

_“Humans were here, boing. And then they were not, zoom. Didn’t leave, ding. Just gone.”_

“Gone,” Ness said. “Paula, we need to check out the situation ourselves.”

“Just what I was thinking.” She turned off the TV. “There’s no point in speculating about what happened before we have real evidence.”

She hopped off the couch and threw her jacket on. Ness scrambled to make it to the door before she closed it. The door led straight outside like a motel, and the evening chill hit him the moment he stepped out. The hairs on his arms and legs stood up, visible with his t-shirt and shorts, and he rubbed his arms for warmth.

Paula only stopped to lock the door before flying down the steps to the ground level of the apartment. Ness nearly called for her to be careful not to slip, then thought better of it and followed her as quickly as he could manage without tumbling down and scratching up his whole body. She reached the bottom before him and held the front gate open until he stumbled out. Ness didn’t have time to apologize before Paula walked off to the grassy field a block away from her apartment.

A nearby empty field for teleportation was one of the perks about living here that Ness was surprised his mother thought of when searching for this place. He knew he should feel lucky just to have PSI, but it was hard to find places to teleport in towns and cities. Especially since the thrill wore off years ago and his heart pounded with anxiety every time he started a teleport near another person.

He jogged to keep up with Paula’s speedwalking, and when they arrived at the empty field she whipped her head around to scan her surroundings.

“Coast is clear,” she said. “Ready?”

Ness nodded. Paula drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“Teleport β.”

Ness kept his eyes open as the world spun, followed by a blur mixed with the sensation of him flying. Eventually, he landed behind Paula and ran to a halt. She dug her heels in and stopped quickly enough that he crashed into her.

“Oh my gosh I’m _so-_ ”

“No apologizing, remember?” Paula whirled around and kissed Ness on the lips. “Ah. Need to stop getting distracted by how much I love you.”

Ness surveyed the landscape of Saturn Valley. The setting sun created a shimmering orange reflection in the pond, and a group of reporters were chasing after Mr. Saturns with microphones and video recorders, but other than that everything looked normal.

“Here’s the thing,” Paula said. “I don’t think that Jeff is the type to down without setting off some sort of explosion against an attacker. But it’s not like he wandered off, either, since search parties are everywhere…”

“And he disappeared at the same time as his father, with none of the Mr. Saturns being involved.” Ness paused. “Paula. What about the Phase Distorter?”

“Why didn’t I think of that?” She shot him a sneaky grin. “Look at you. Guess I’m dating a genius as well as a cutie.”

Ness felt heat rise in his cheeks, and Paula’s smile widened. Despite the situation, it was good to see her having fun. These moments seemed to happen less and less frequently as their relationship drew on.

The two of them managed to dodge the reporters as they circled their way over to the Phase Distorter. Ness held his hand up to the bulbous nose of the Mr.-Saturn-shaped machine, finding it warm to the touch.

“He heat could be from use,” Ness said, “But maybe it’s just hot from the sunlight?”

Paula glanced up at the mountain ranges above. “I don’t think so. The Phase Distorter should have been in the shade for most of the day. Probably why they chose this spot for it, actually. Here, let me see.”

She pressed a hand against the black spot at the center of the machine, and then on one of the grey rings surrounding it.

“They’re the same temperature,” Paula said. “Sunlight would heat up black more than anything else. It’s why your hair is nice and warm when we’re walking around in direct sunlight. The part of it that isn’t covered by your baseball cap, anyway.”

“So you’re saying…”

“The heat was generated from the inside,” Paula said, “Which means Jeff and Dr. Andonuts must have used the machine. Why, I don’t know. I guess we just have to wait for them to come back.”

Ness nodded. The question, “and if they don’t?” lingered between the two of them.

“If they’re stuck somewhere,” Paula said, “I’m sure that there are engineers who could work out how to call them back using the machine.”

Right, that was what happened when Ness and his friends went off to fight Gigyas. But then again, they left their bodies behind and Dr. Andonuts only needed to call their spirit back, right? It should be different for recalling body versus soul.

Before Ness could ponder further, Paula threw her arms around him.

“I was so scared that someone might be after us.” She squeezed him tight. “That someone might be after _you._ ”

“It’s okay, Paula. I can take care of myself.”

“I know. But can you blame me? You’re my entire world, Ness. If something happened to you, I’d-”

She cut herself off and buried him in kisses. While he was kissing her back, Ness’ mind wandered. Were the reporters catching this? If Jeff were coming back on his own, wouldn’t he have travelled back to right after he left so nobody would know? Did he and Dr. Andonuts even mean to travel ahead in time?

It was in that moment that Ness realized what made him different than Paula. He was terrified of her getting hurt too, but the way she was kissing him, her eyes wide with love… even after years of trying, he simply didn’t feel the same way about her. So he smiled at her. Wrapped his arms around her.

Wondered how long he could keep pretending.

#

Ness turned to Lucas, still processing the shock of being asked if he was gay. “That was about the last question I expected.”

“I’m sorry,” Lucas said, looking at his feet. “That was too forward of me, wasn’t it? I’m not sure how to talk about this, since we never brought up this topic back in Tazmily.”

“Oh, I’ve had to talk about sexuality here or there.” Ness coughed. “But is this place different?”

Lucas perked up. “Yeah. One of the few good things about this place. I can tell everyone I’m gay and they just accept it as normal.”

“You’re…?”

“Is that strange to you, Ness?”

“Perhaps. But that is the fault of my ignorance, and has nothing to do with you. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re my friend.”

Lucas relaxed his shoulders. “I felt the same discomfort the first time I heard about homosexuality. It takes time, but…” Lucas drew a deep breath. “Well, maybe it only got better for me because I started to accept who I am.”

Silence hung between them.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want,” Lucas said. “It took me months to come to an answer myself.”

“I’m not gay.”

Lucas glanced over at Ness. His nod was uneasy.

“Tell me, Lucas. Did you have reason to suspect that I’m…”

“When we were driving through the city, and those boards were advertising all those scantily clad ladies. It didn’t seem like you lingered on any of them.”

“Just because I don’t stare at inappropriate advertisements in public doesn’t mean I’m gay.”

“But straight men who don’t want to stare act… embarrassed. They turn away quickly, so that they don’t tempt themselves. You weren’t like that. You looked at them straight on, and it didn’t do anything to you.” Lucas shrugged. “It’s just something I’ve noticed about myself. But clearly I’m wrong, so there’s no need to keep talking about it.”

Ness took a deep breath. Lucas was willing to drop the subject, so why did Ness want to keep proving his point? Maybe it was because…

Well, Lucas was right. He stared at all the women in those advertisements. He recognized them as conventionally pretty. Yet none of them were alluring to him in the slightest.

And then there was Paula.

“I’ve considered the thought before,” Ness whispered. “It was while I was dating Paula, when things weren’t working. I tried to, uh, be attracted to a shirtless man on the front of one of my mom’s magazines. Didn’t do anything, other than making me feel terrible.”

“Sounds like I really am mistaken, then.” Lucas shook his head. “Strange. I’m usually not wrong about stuff like that. Maybe people from the past are different. That makes me wonder if I’m also wrong about…”

“About what?”

Lucas looked up at the stars. “Nothing. Forget it.”

Ness crossed his arms. “You can’t leave me hanging like this.”

“It’s just…” Lucas grimaced. “I don’t want to step in between you two, but it seems like Paula hasn’t gotten over you.”

“Oh yeah. She told me.”

Lucas jerked his head towards Ness. “And you’re okay with her being around?”

“I’m not willing to give up a friendship for something she can’t control.”

Lucas let out a relieved sigh. “Guess there was nothing for me to worry about, then. You really are a good ex.”

“So is she,” Ness said. “Not trying to pressure me into anything, protecting me when random goons with PSI jump us in an alley…”

Lucas grimaced. “I am sorry about that. Why don’t we try to clear our minds with some baseball so we can start fresh once we head back to the bunker?”

“Sure. After one more question from me.”

“Uh.” Lucas offered a nervous smile. “Sure.”

“Why were you so curious about whether or not I’m gay? Are you…”

Lucas’ eyes widened. “Oh, no. Nothing like that. Dark Dragon, trying to start a relationship with my most trusted ally right before fighting Porky would introduce all sorts of inconvenient emotions into the equation.”

Ness smiled to himself. If Lucas and Paula could push past each other’s exteriors, they would learn how similar they were.

“I just don’t have much in common with all the people in this world, straight or gay. But if you and I shared that bit of ourselves… well, there would finally be someone who understood me.”

“You should talk with Paula,” Ness said. “She suffered a lot for being bi.”

“That is when someone is attracted to both men and women, yes?” Lucas shook his head. “There’s so much more to this that I don’t understand. I suppose I need to keep thinking about it on my own. Thanks anyway.”

Ness nodded, knowing a “I’m not doing that,” when he heard it. He was only now realizing how lucky all four of the chosen heroes were to get along with each other so well. Going on an adventure with both Paula and Lucas would probably mean bickering and passive-aggressive asides nonstop.

Though that seemed to be the case between Lucas and Kumatora, as well. Were they always so cold to each other? Maybe they were best friends back in the day, just like him and Paula, right up until they turned on each other and slung maelstroms of PSI at each other on the top of a mountain.

He didn’t want to think about that happening to him and Paula.

“Do you want to walk or teleport to the baseball field?” Lucas said. “It will only take about fifteen minutes if we speedwalk.”

“Let’s do that,” Ness said, looking up at the sky. “I’m not looking to shorten the time we spend under the stars.”

#

A couple cars flew past Ness and Lucas during their trek down the dirt road. They looked old and worn, with the major difference from 90s Eagleland that the people inside didn’t appear to be steering. At first Ness thought this place was filled with irresponsible drivers, but when he saw a car going around a turn without the woman inside putting her hands on the steering wheel, he realized that the cars must be driving themselves.

“I’m surprised people trust machines to do their driving for them,” Ness said. “Isn’t this how the robot uprising starts?”

Lucas shrugged. “Not my world. Not my most pressing concern.”

Fair enough. Ness and Lucas walked in silence until they arrived at the baseball field.

The outfield was overgrown with ankle-high yellow grass that snaked through the rusted wire fence, which looked like it was about to topple over from a stiff breeze. Cans and bottles were scattered by the fence next to the infield, and Ness saw plastic wrappers and cheap toys gathering dirt by the side of the road.

He didn’t care. This place was perfect.

“Good thing I asked about baseball, I guess,” Lucas said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.”

“That’s not saying much when we’ve only known each other for an hour or two.”

Lucas laughed. “That’s true. But fighting side by side makes it feel like I’ve known you my whole life.”

Ness smiled to himself. When he first met Jeff and Paula, they told him it was fate that made them friends at first sight. Because the prophecy said. they were always going to be friends, and just didn’t know it until the moment they set eyes on each other.

Perhaps that wasn’t true. There was something about fighting side by side with another person, Ness trusting them with his life and them trusting him the same, that blossomed friendships out of dry earth.

And if it wasn’t fate that made Ness so close with the others, maybe he could make close friends down the line. Friends like Lucas.

“Oh, hey.” Lucas smirked into the distance. “Would you look at that.”

A figure stood on the pitcher’s mound, throwing balls that rang as they bounced off the back gate. His form was decent, but the throws weren’t fast enough to make a good straightball and didn’t curve. And the way he whipped his arm to throw the ball also didn’t look like an intentional changeup pitch.

Ness squinted, trying to study the person in the dark, and could only make out a vest and a cowboy hat. Maybe wild west fashion was back in again? Or it was some sort of costume that Ness didn’t understand the significance of.

He followed Lucas up to the baseball field until the person at the pitcher’s mound stopped and waved to Lucas. He walked over to the batting plate and picked up the baseballs, which gave Ness a better chance to examine him. A teenager about the same as him and Lucas, with a wispy beard and mustache starting to grow in.

“Heyo, Flint,” Lucas said. “Isn’t it a little late to be out here practicing?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Flint rotated his arm around, stretching his shoulder. “Besides, it isn’t that late.”

“Is it normal for people to stay up past one in the morning?” Ness said.

“Oh, this is my new friend Ness,” Lucas said. “We met in the capital and took the bullet train out here. He’s still thinking it’s a different time zone.”

Ness caught the hint about not mentioning PSI or teleportation. “Oh, right. What time is it, again?”

“A little after ten,” Flint said. “You play, kid?”

“Yeah.” He kept the “ _and don’t call me kid,_ ” in his head.

“Great. We can switch off between batting, pitching, and catching.”

“Or we could have a fielder and try to run bases,” Lucas said. “Though I suppose it would be a little easy for the batter.”

“Do you even have an extra glove?” Ness said.

Flint nodded, walking over to the left batter’s box and picking up a dusty glove from a pile on the ground. He tossed it to Ness, who snatched it out of the air.

“Would have been concerned for your skills if you couldn’t handle a flying glove,” Flint said. “Where did you learn how to play? Seems people have forgotten the old sports, these days.”

Old sports? What were the new ones? “I grew up in a small town. You have to make your own fun there.”

He put the glove on his left hand. Well-loved, certainly, but that was better than new and overly stiff. It was a bit smaller than the gloves he was used to, but he could make do.

“Well, color me surprised that you stepped away from screens long enough to discover this game. Glad to have someone else who appreciates the old ways, of course.”

Screens? He probably meant TV screens, or whatever came after in future technology. Ness tried not to think too hard about the possibility of baseball dying out in his own lifetime.

After a few more minutes of discussion, they decided to have one person bat, one person pitch, and one person stand by and watch. It was dark enough that neither a catcher or a fielder could really see where the ball was going, which could lead to balls smacking into people’s heads. It made batting harder too, obviously, but Ness wasn’t complaining so long as he got to play baseball.

The next couple of hours passed in a blur. It didn’t matter that he had to go easy on both Lucas and Flint while pitching. It didn’t matter that they spent ten minutes scrambling in the outfield to find one of the lost balls under the moonlight. Being able to play his favorite game with only the stars to watch was magical.

Flint was clearly better trained than Lucas, but he lacked the warrior’s focus and stamina that Lucas put on full display. When Flint started to tire, Ness was able to work with Lucas one on one and give him tips on form.

“We never had games like these back where I grew up,” Lucas said. “I guess you’d need someone to make the balls, someone to make the gloves, and someone to bend metal to make this massive fence. We always just played tag or hide and seek instead.”

That was an interesting thought. To Lucas, a baseball field in Onett would probably seem as futuristic as clones and world-ravaging viruses did to Ness. That thought bothered him until Flint announced that he should probably head back home.

“I thought Lucas was a freak of nature for never getting tired,” Flint said, “But if he is, I guess he’s not the only one.”

“Oh, I think we both get tired,” Ness said, glancing at Lucas. “But at least we can exhaust ourselves by doing something fun.”

“Well, are we still on for practicing during the weekend?” Flint said, turning to Lucas.

Lucas hesitated. “Of course.”

“And will you bring Ness with you? I’d love to include all of us when we can actually see the damn ball.”

“I think that’s up to you.” Lucas turned to Ness, his eyes asking the same question.

“If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be home by then. But I’d be happy to join if I’m stuck here.”

It was going to be sad, saying goodbye to Lucas. But that was how friendships worked, wasn’t it? He only saw Poo about once a year, and eventually Paula would go off to college and probably get a job far away from Ness. What was he supposed to do once he was alone for good? Most people turned to marriage, but for some reason Ness was terrible at relationships.

“Suppose that’s all I can ask for,” Flint said. “I hope to see you again, Ness.”

“Likewise.”

Flint tipped his cowboy hat and started walking off down the dirt road. Apparently the baseball equipment wasn’t his, then. Was nobody going to steal it if they left it here?

When Flint was out of earshot, Lucas released a sigh. “That’s my dad.”

Ness blinked. “Come again?”

“You know how Hinawa is my mom? Flint’s my dad. He’s just younger because he’s in the past.” Lucas smirked. “I have to say that the cowboy outfit suited him better as a man in his thirties and forties than as a teenager.”

“It must be strange, seeing your parents like this,” Ness said.

Lucas nodded. “I had no idea my mother could use PSI. It must have been suppressed when we forgot everything about the old world to start anew. I think I was alive then.” He cocked his head. “But I would have been too young to remember it, anyway.”

“So this paradise of yours…”

“Only lasted about ten years, yeah. But so long as I breathe, I won’t stop dreaming. I see a world with no money, no laws, no police, and no leaders. We all just help each other with what we need and live together in peace. But these ideas must seem strange to you.”

“True communism, anarchy, whatever you want to call it…” Ness shrugged. “I’d love to see that world, too. But I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Lucas sighed. “I can’t blame you for doubting me when I question myself every single day. After all, Tazmily was built on a foundation of lies. Maybe it was just a matter of time before it all came crashing down.” He stared up at the moon. “Baseball was good for clearing my mind and getting the blood flowing. Let’s head back to the bunker, shall we?”

“Not so fast,” came a voice from behind. “Don’t you remember how you promised to teach me this game, Ness?”

Ness whirled around to see a boy in a white uniform with a black belt tied around his waist. The boy wore a serious expression, but after a moment it broke and he released a wide grin.

“It’s been too long, Ness,” Poo said.


	10. A Moment Before Dawn

**One Year Ago:**

After staying the night in Paula’s apartment, Ness changed into regular clothes and walked out into the kitchen area to see her making scrambled eggs. She didn’t look up as he approached.

“Ness.” Her hard tone sent his heart racing. “You were tossing and turning last night.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I slept well. I’ll get used to your bed eventually.”

“Except the same thing happened whenever I slept in your bed,” Paula said. “And when I moved out, the dark circles under your eyes magically vanished.”

Ness shrugged. “I wish I knew what to tell you.”

“Do you know why I keep having this conversation with you, Ness?” Paula said, eggs sizzling in the skillet. “It’s not because I enjoy it.”

“Because you’re worried?”

“Exactly. So how do you think it feels when you keep telling me the same bullshit, when things clearly aren’t okay?”

Ness shrank back. Every day, he repeated the promise he made to himself that he was going to keep Paula happy. She deserved it after saving the world only to be tossed aside by her parents. He was the only one she had left.

And he couldn’t even do that. What did that make him?

“I’m sor-”

“And I’m sick of your apologies. This isn’t your damn fault, Ness. It’s nobody’s fault. I just need to know what you need to be happy. Because it seems like I’m making you miserable.”

He bit down the urge to deny the last claim. After dating Paula for two and a half years, he learned to recognize that her hunched over shoulders and the furious way she prepared her food meant that she was ready to explode. Best not to start a disagreement now.

“Is this about the sex thing again?” Paula said. “I’m perfectly happy waiting until you’re ready. No matter how long that takes.”

She stepped to the side, throwing the cupboard open and taking out a ceramic plate. She picked up her skillet and pushed the eggs onto the plate so quickly that bits of yellow went flying on the floor. Paula set the plate down on the counter, hot skillet still in hand.

“These are for you,” Paula said.

“Thanks, but I’m not-”

“You lied to me, Ness.”

Ness looked up at her. “What do you mean? I promise I didn’t mean to-”

“You told me that you weren’t hungry last night because you ate at home before coming over. I called your mom, and guess what she had to say.”

Ness looked down at his feet. Why did he pick a lie that could be so easily checked? He should have told her that he went to the burger shop in Onett. Now he was a terrible boyfriend who made his girlfriend worry about him.

“Paula, you shouldn’t be picking up for my slack. If I miss or two, it’s on me to catch up.”

“I shouldn’t be, but here I am.” Paula’s expression softened. “I know you’ll just crawl back into your shell if I yell at you to eat. So I’ll put it this way. I’m going to hop into the shower right now. If those eggs aren’t touched by the time I get out here, I’m throwing them in the trash.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I’ve decided I don’t like eggs this morning. Your choice, Ness.” 

Paula threw her skillet and spatula in the sink, turned off the burner, and walked past Ness in the direction of the bathroom. Ness glanced at the steaming eggs on the plate. She even put a fork out for him, and put the salt and pepper shakers at a convenient location.

Ness heard the water start from the bathroom and released a sigh. She wouldn’t even let him have the excuse that it was awkward to eat around other people.

Guess he had no choice. Ness sat up at the counter and started eating the eggs. He consumed them plain, no salt or pepper. After the first bite, he realized how hungry he really was and shoveled the rest into his mouth within seconds.

He was still hungry after he finished. But at least newfound guilt kept his pained stomach company. Guilt that Paula made him breakfast like he was a little kid, at the same time as the guilt that he gave into his hunger less than a day after deciding he wouldn’t eat meals for a while.

It was a vicious cycle. If he ate Paula’s food, he was a burden. If he went without eating, she worried about him and he became a burden. The logical solution would be to eat his own food, but even that felt terrible for reasons he couldn’t rationalize.

He sat over his empty plate until Paula walked out of the bathroom with her shower robe on and a towel wrapped around her head. She looked at the empty plate and beamed.

“Does it make things worse if I congratulate you for eating?” Paula said.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

She walked over and sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

“I can tell that you’ve been feeling down,” Paula said. “But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The way you’re acting… it reminds me of my own depression. How would you feel about seeing a therapist?”

“I don’t need that sort of thing.”

“Don’t worry about the stigma, Ness. What matter is whether or not it will help you feel better.”

“Thanks for your concern, Paula.” Ness turned away. “But I’m fine.”

Paula took a deep breath. “There’s a conversation I’ve been meaning to have with you for a while. I wanted to wait until you were feeling better, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen for a while. Because of me.”

“I’m happy to talk about anything.”

“I don’t think you’re happy in this relationship, Ness. At first, I thought it was something about me. That if I were just a bit nicer or a bit prettier, I could finally make you happy. But you keep saying that you don’t know why this makes you feel like shit and I… I believe you, Ness. Maybe it doesn’t have to be about you or about me. Maybe we’re just not happy together.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Ness said. “I love you, Paula.”

“I love you too, but I’m not going to let this slide.” She met his gaze. “Look me in the eye and tell me I’m wrong, Ness. Say that this relationship has _any_ hope at all of making you happy.”

Ness’ gaze wavered. He shrunk back and looked at the floor.

“That’s what I thought.” Paula sounded defeated. “I don’t want to break up with you, Ness. But because I love you with all my heart, I want you to be happy. Even if it means we have to be apart.”

“I’m not going to abandon you, Paula.”

“There’s something in the tone of your voice.” Paula stood up. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew all this time that things weren’t working, and you stayed because of how it might hurt _me._ ”

Ness’ hands went up to his chest. “I’m sorry, Paula. Are you mad at me?”

“No, not angry. Just… sad.” She shook her head. “This wasn’t how I wanted any of this to happen.”

This was worse. He could accept her anger because he deserved it; he had nothing for her sorrow.

“You are the best boyfriend I could have asked for,” Paula said. “And because of that, I’m asking you to trust me. I’m getting along better with my parents. I have friends in school. The media seems to have moved on from tormenting me. If you leave, I’m not going to fall apart. Do you believe in me to be strong enough when my heart breaks?”

“Of course. You’re strong enough to face anything.”

Paula smiled. “Then tell me the truth. Do you want this relationship to continue, or not?”

Ness took a deep breath. He knew the answer before she asked. A part of him had probably known since before he even asked her out two and a half years ago.

“I think… I need to be single for a while.”

“All right.” Paula let out a sigh. “I guess this is it, then.”

She leaned over and wrapped her arms around him.

“I’m sad, of course,” she said. “But I’m also happy that you finally made the right choice for yourself. We can still be friends, right?”

“Of course.” Ness hugged her back.

Friends. The word sparked a joy in him that he knew he didn’t deserve. The only thing he cared about was making Paula happy, and he _failed._

“Then feel free to stop by anytime,” Paula said. “Maybe even relive the old days when the world didn’t seem quite so cold.”

Ness nodded, but there was a voice in the back of his mind telling him that he would never be visiting her ever again.

#

“Oh, hello,” Lucas said. “Tell me, is your name actually Poo? I always figured it was some sort of error in the film I watched.”

“Huh. They’re still talking about us this far into the future?” Poo smirked. “And yes. That is my name. I’ll still be here by the time you get over laughing about it. Hm… since I’m technically the King of Dalaam now, maybe I should go as ‘King P’ to avoid some of the confusion.”

“Uh, any nickname but that,” Lucas said. “Please.”

“Man, your reaction makes me think that some asshole beat me to it.” Poo shook his head. “You are Ness’ friend, yes?”

“Yeah, this is my friend Lucas,” Ness said. Elbowing Poo, “And since you’re some sort of holy leader now, doesn’t that mean you shouldn’t swear.”

“Fuck that.” Poo clapped Ness on the back. “Rules are different around friends. Besides, I’m not much of anybody here. We should probably head back and regroup with Paula.”

“Didn’t you say that you wanted to learn baseball?”

“At some point, yes. But it was Paula who told me to make fun of you for never doing that. Porky is our top priority right now.”

“Wait.” Lucas stiffened. “Did you find the bunker on your own?”

“My Mu senses are more alert than what the PSI-tracking clones use. You should be good until after we deal with Porky.”

“Ness.” Lucas turned to him. “You’re sure that this person couldn’t have been brainwashed or cloned in any sort of way?”

“I can’t be positive,” Ness said, “But he seems genuine enough. Albeit a bit more easygoing than I expected.”

Poo put a hand over his chest and gasped. “You wound me, Ness. Was I that stoic during our adventure together?”

“Maybe a bit. It’s just strange that being a bigwig religious leader would have softened you up.”

“Eh, weirder things have happened.” Poo started off down the road, then looked over his shoulder. “What are we waiting for? I’m sorry if I interrupted a romantic night under the moon, but we have to move if we want any chance at stopping Porky.”

Lucas blushed but followed. Ness shrugged and jogged to catch up with Poo.

Would Jeff be this different too when Ness finally found him?

#

Ness was convinced Poo chatted more during the 15-minute walk back to the bunker than he did the entire monthlong adventure he and Ness shared. One of the details he let slip was that this was his third year living in the future world.

“How is that possible?” Ness said. “We saw each other just last year.”

“Maybe the flow of time is different here?” Lucas said.

“I don’t want to talk more than I have to, so let’s wait until we can talk with Paula,” Poo said. “Oh! That baseball comment I made reminded me how most of the ‘sports’ these days are people playing video games. Not that I follow it—too much stimulation for someone who grew up in Dalaam with no television—but it looks super interesting. You should check it out. And speaking of which…”

“So much for not wanting to speak more than necessary,” Ness muttered to Lucas.

He got a smile from Lucas in return. It almost felt like the old days, bantering with friends after the sun went down even when Ness knew they should have been sleeping. Maybe if he found Jeff, they could all go back to the world that slipped out of their grasp.

Poo continued talking even as they arrived at the bunker entrance and descended the stairs, only stopping when they entered the common room and it was easy to see the doors that led to rooms where people were sleeping.

Paula was typing away at a keyboard, cycling through different pages on the internet. Ness knew the basics of the web from watching over her shoulder while they were dating, but the intensity at which she was scrolling through pages and switching tabs reminded him of a hacker from a movie.

She grinned when she looked up and saw Poo, proceeding to walk over and give him a hug.

“Relax,” Poo said. “It’s been thirty minutes.”

“Thirty minutes too long, dear friend.”

Ness tried to shove down jealousy. Would it changed anything if he were able to keep Paula smiling like that? If only knowing that their relationship was doomed from the start would make these inconvenient emotions go away.

“Are you ready to hit us with this mind-blowing theory of yours?” Paula said.

Ness raised an eyebrow at Poo, who coughed into a fist. “Oh, yes. I forgot to mention this while we were walking back. We should probably establish what’s going on with this timeline before we take any moves that can affect it. So let’s start with how we’re probably not in the future at all.”

“Uh,” Lucas said. “Are you sure? I’m pretty certain it is my past.”

“It is the past relative to you,” Poo said. “But it is not your past.”

Lucas rubbed his temples. “That makes even less sense.”

“Let’s start with the basics,” Poo said. “Backwards time travel, as presented in those movies you Eaglelanders are addicted to, is essentially impossible. Defies the known laws of physics.”

“And PSI doesn’t?” Ness said.

“Getting to that.” Poo glanced around. “Do I need to explain this, or…”

“No, now that you mention the topic, it’s pretty obvious for someone with any understanding of the space-time continuum that backwards time travel would be rather difficult,” Paula said.

Ness and Lucas exchanged a glance.

“Whether or not this is my past determines what I’m allowed to do without messing everything up,” Lucas said. “So I’d like to hear your reasoning.”

“Where to begin…” Poo paced back and forth. “Well, we know a bit about how to mess with time itself. Mostly because the speed of light is the same in any reference frame, so as a consequence…”

“Slow down, please.” Lucas furrowed his brow. “We’re speaking the same language, but I don’t understand any of the words you’re saying.”

“Ah.” Poo frowned. “No matter how fast you go, light will speed up by however much you do. The way that happens is that time itself bends. It makes sense if you think about it.”

“It really doesn’t,” Ness said. “But go on.”

“The faster you go,” Poo said, “The more time has to slow for you to the light to _seem_ like it speeds up to match. Since it always has to stay one step ahead, after all. Or rather, three hundred million meter-sized steps per second ahead. So you see some science fiction books claiming that if you go faster than the speed of light, then you can go back in time.”

“I think I follow,” Lucas said. “A little bit.”

“I’m just wondering how you managed to learn so much about theoretical physics and science fiction,” Paula said.

“Not much else to do when you live on top of a mountain,” Poo said. “As I was saying, backwards time travel through exceeding the speed of light is not possible. Since light always stays ahead of you no matter what, remember?”

“Couldn’t there be other possibilities?” Paula said. “Like wormholes connecting two points in spacetime?”

“It’s theoretically possible. But transporting a person to the past that way? Wouldn’t work.”

“I’m still waiting for the part where you explain how PSI fits into this,” Ness said.

“I propose a mechanism much simpler than time travel to explain everything… supernatural we’ve experienced. This isn’t our past or future, Ness. This is a different version of our universe.”

“Of course.” Paula slapped her forehead. “How didn’t I think of that? Wait, so that means the Phase Distorter… and Giygas’ lair… We’ve had it wrong the whole time.”

“Do you get what he’s saying, Ness?” Lucas asked.

Ness shook his head.

“The simplest way to travel back in time,” Poo said, “Is if this isn’t _your_ past, Lucas. It’s a universe parallel to yours, about to go through the same calamity that ravaged your world.”

Now Ness was starting to understand. “It’s like when a book or movie branches off into a different timeline. A ‘what-if’.”

Poo nodded. “That’s a good way to think of it. Except this ‘what-if’ is quite real for everyone involved.”

“Wait,” Ness said. “Doesn’t that mean Lucas and I came to this world from separate realities?”

“It would appear so.” Poo smirked. “Paula, do you understand now why I asked what the date was back in Eagleland when you took the Phase Distorter here?”

Paula’s eyes widened. “You’re not our Poo. You’re some _other_ Poo from a random-ass universe in the corner.”

Poo laughed. “To me, you’re the ones from some alternate reality.”

“So if we all came from different dimensions instead of time periods,” Lucas said, “We can affect this reality without it doing anything to ours.”

“Mostly yes,” Poo said. “With an important exception.”

“Oh?” Lucas cocked his head.

“It is possible for matter and energy to… leak from one dimension to another, once a connection is established. I believe that energy spilling out of alternate universes is what we know as PSI.”

“This is making my head hurt,” Ness said.

“No, it makes sense,” Paula said. “Think about how we levitate objects with telekinesis. It’s physically impossible to push up on that couch we levitated into the apartment without it pushing back with its weight. But it didn’t feel heavy at all to us. Do you know why?”

“Because the weight wasn’t pushing down on _you,_ ” Lucas said. “It was pushing on where the PSI energy came from in another dimension.”

“Exactly,” Poo said. “Which also means that theoretically, there could be lots of universes out there without PSI. They would just be cut off from other realities so we would have no way of knowing they exist.”

“Hey,” Paula said. “Maybe this could help us figure out how to get your PSI back, Ness.”

“If you pick up on anything, let me know,” Ness said. “I’m having a hard enough time keeping track as it is.”

“Wait,” Lucas said. “How did our realities become connected in the first place, then? Were we always in contact with an alternate PSI dimension that feeds us energy?”

“That’s a great question,” Poo said. “And I’m inclined to think that the answer is no. Because Ness, Paula, and I saw the dynamics change between our world and the PSI world adjacent to ours. There was something trying to break into our reality from the PSI realm. And to beat it, we had to journey there to kick its ass.”

The hairs on the back of Ness’ neck stood up. “You mean Giygas.”

“This is all my conjecture, anyway.” Poo shrugged. “But I don’t think we ever travelled back in time to fight Giygas. We travelled to its home dimension. And we gathered the thoughts and prayers of everyone in our world to harness massive PSI energy.”

“So it wasn’t the prayers themselves?” Ness said.

“Some sort of disturbance in the PSI world due to changes in thoughts is a more tangible mechanism than… whatever people think prayers do,” Paula said. “We use PSI by thinking. It only makes sense that we can do something truly special with all the thoughts in the world on our side.”

“So that was enough?” Ness said. “We destroyed Gigyas by turning its own PSI against it?”

Poo laughed. “No, I don’t think we did. We just sealed off from our world. Mostly, anyway. Clearly there must still be some connection since we can still use PSI and travel between dimensions.”

“Maybe that was why you lost your powers?” Paula said. “The link to the PSI world being severed might have cut you off.”

“But only me?” Ness said. “And years after we beat Giygas?”

Paula deflated. “Yeah, I guess not.”

“Okay, this is all fascinating,” Lucas said. “But what does it mean?”

“Gigyas…” Poo shook his head. “There are either multiple Giygases creating connections between universes through PSI worlds, or one Giygas that has extended its vast reach across the multiverse. That’s the only reason we were able to meet up the way we are now. And I’m not sure it brought us together by chance.”

“You think Giygas _meant_ for us all to meet each other in this city?” Paula said.

“Think about the chances of travelers from three different worlds meeting at this exact same time,” Poo said. “Or possibly four, if Porky comes from a different reality entirely.”

“And if Giygas brought us all here from different universes on purpose,” Ness said, “It must have some plan for us.”

“That’s right,” Poo said. “Remember that Gigyas’ ambitions have always been larger than a single universe. It wouldn’t need to attack mine or yours if it was content staying where it began.”

“So you’re saying,” Lucas said, “That if we screw this up, Giygas might take over more than just this reality?”

Poo nodded. “I hate to admit it, but I think the fate of the multiverse could be at stake here.”

“Great,” Ness said. “Just when I thought I didn’t have enough to worry about.”

#

Formulating an attack to stop Porky’s plan was fairly quick, for the simple reason that they had no details about what was going on.

“I think we just storm the building, fight our way up to the top floor, and kick Porky’s ass,” Paula said. “It’s what he wants us to do, sure, but remember that he wants to see Ness squirm. He’ll let us get far so we _think_ we can win. The challenge then is just to go a little further than he expects us to.”

“I hate to admit it,” Lucas said, “But I agree with Paula. He’ll have something planned for us either way, especially with this Giygas business we just discussed. We need to walk right into his trap, let him reveal his grand surprise, and then take him out when he’s monologuing about how much better than us he is. It’s risky, but that’s how Kumatora and I took him out the first time.”

“Speaking of which,” Ness said. “I assume there’s no chance that she’ll defect?”

“I think we’ll have to make our plans that way,” Lucas said. “If she comes around, it will be on her own terms. Only thing to do with a wild card is to plan for the worst scenario.”

“So it will be the four of us against Kumatora, Porky, and your brother at a minimum,” Paula said.

“Paula told me about Claus,” Poo said. “I think I can try to hold him off while the rest of you go on ahead. I can fight on the defensive and the rest of you space to unleash your wrath on Porky.”

“Sounds good,” Lucas said, “And remember, don’t attack the Porky robots unless they’re isolated. And if you do, don’t use offensive PSI. They waste a lot of time fake crying or playing dead, so the best option is just to not engage them.”

The four of them continued with strategy talks, but Ness was too tired to pay attention to most of it. Once he knew his role of being the primary lure to make Porky reveal whatever secret he planned for them, he zoned out for the rest of the discussion. Eventually, the four of them agreed to rest up before the final confrontation. Lucas went into his room while Poo found an unused one, commenting that he would probably sleep on the metal floor to keep up his spiritual, luxury-free lifestyle. After they both closed their doors, Paula walked over to Ness with a nervous smile.

“What a day, huh?” she said.

“Yeah, I’m ready to sleep and it should be early evening for us.”

“Before you do…” Paula took a deep breath. “I want to show you something on the computer, if that’s all right. I figure that if bad goes to worse after sunrise, this might be my last chance.”

“Don’t say stuff like that. Please.”

“We have to be practical. But I won’t bring it up more than I have to.”

Ness walked over to the computer Paula was using, which was asleep. It woke up when she approached, which meant that it must recognize her face in particular? Ness was too tired to think about futuristic technology at this point.

He looked at the article she had up on her current tab: _“Timeline of queer history in the 21 st century.”_

“Uh, what exactly were you researching while Lucas and I were playing baseball?” Ness said.

Paula blushed. “I may have gotten a bit off topic. But look! Things get better for people like me in the future.”

She scrolled through the first part of the list. Gay marriage being legalized in Eagleland, approval for gay marriage rising above 90%, addition of genders in official documentation other than male or female, lower rates of hate crimes against queer people, along with lower rates of depression, suicide, and was that…

“Wait, hold up a minute,” Ness said. “Does that timeline say that cancer rates decreased for…”

“Yeah, for queer people. Apparently in our time, people like me have higher cancer rates than the normal population because of all the stress. But it gets better, Ness. And faster than I could have ever imagined. I know that that this world has its problems. I saw those how those clones were locked up just like you did. But almost everything else is improving. Crime and racial violence continue to decrease with better surveillance and security. Lower drug-related deaths after better rehab programs were established. Better nutrition and food security as we engineer better crops. I know this world is terrifying. But can you see how beautiful it is to me?”

Years-old jealousy flared up in Ness, unbidden. He knew it wasn’t fair to envy Paula after all the hate she received, but how nice would it be to have a name to put to his problems? Ness couldn’t love the only person he was supposed to, and couldn’t even say that he was gay as an excuse.

“What does it mean by queer?” Ness said. “That doesn’t sound especially flattering.”

“Oh, even in our time this was something people took on as a symbol of pride.” Paula put a finger on her chin. “No pun intended. In 90s Eagleland, we started forming acronyms like LGBT to group together different people, but I like the word queer better. It doesn’t separate people into neat little boxes that sometimes don’t exist at all.” She took a deep breath. “I wish I had time to share everything I learned with you, but I know we should get some rest soon. I just wanted to show you that my future is brighter than I thought.”

“I’m happy for you.” Ness smiled. “So queer is just another way of saying people who are gay, lesbian, bi, and…?”

“Transgender. But there’s more. Nonbinary people who don’t identify as either male or female. Intersex people who are born with bodies that aren’t quite male and aren’t quite female, either. And then aces and aros too. Oh, and there are a lot of others that were developed later in the 21st century, but I haven’t gotten around to reading much about those yet.”

“Aces? Aros?”

“Asexual and aromantic. People who aren’t sexually or romantically attracted to other people, regardless of sex or gender. Seems a bit strange to me. How could someone just _not_ experience those feelings?”

“Yeah. Uh, really odd.”

“Though apparently it’s quite common to be one without the other. To be sexually attracted to someone without being romantically inclined, or vice versa. I still don’t really get it, but it’s not like I have to. I’m glad more people are doing what works for them. Plus the article I was reading says that aces and aros like to form really close friendships, which I think is super cute.”

Ness nodded along. “Well, we should to what we can to make sure our world takes all the positive parts of this one without the scary stuff.”

“Definitely.” Paula’s eyes twinkled as she smiled. “I should probably let you go to bed. Thanks for humoring me.”

“No, it’s nice to hear you open up about something that means a lot of you.” Ness took a deep breath. “And I think you’re right about making sure we tell each other what’s important, just in case things go south after sunrise. I don’t want to die with any regrets.”

Paula raised an eyebrow. “Is there something you want to talk with me about?”

“Something like that. Hinawa said I should tell you how I lost my PSI. But it’s something I’m not proud of.”

Paula went silent. After a few moments, she gestured for him to continue. “I’ll listen to every word, Ness. And I promise I won’t judge.”

Ness looked into her eyes. The conviction in her irises couldn’t be faked.

Well, too late to back out now.

“It started the night after we broke up…”


	11. The Root of Corruption

**Content Warning: Suicide**

**One Year Ago:**

By the time nightfall hit, Ness was finished writing the letters. One to his mom, one to Tracy, one to Paula.

It was just like any other night. He waited until his mom kissed him goodnight before heading upstairs and locking the door to his room. The blinds were open, and milky light filtered through his window and outline the shadow of the window pane on Ness’ bed. He put the letters on his dresser and hopping onto the bed, sitting with legs crossed.

There would be no need to change into pajamas tonight.

Why did the stars outside look so… distant as they twinkled away? It was like watching children laughing and running on a playground in the sky while he was locked on the ground.

“You must all be friends,” Ness said, looking up at the sky. “I was hoping that one day, you would accept me as one of your own. But that’s not possible, is it? There’s nothing waiting for us after we die.”

Ness flopped down onto his bed, taking off his baseball cap and putting it over his chest.

“I’m just seeing ghosts,” Ness said. “Because I know some of you aren’t around anymore. All the light I’m seeing is millions of years old. It’s like…” Ness forced a smile. “A graveyard. But you keep dancing on, even after death. Perhaps I was wrong to envy you. Perhaps you are just slaves to the laws of our universe too.”

Ness closed his eyes.

“Does talking to stars still make me insane if I don’t hear anything back? I suppose it doesn’t matter, in the end. Thank you for keeping me company during all these years. It was a futile effort, but I am still grateful.”

That was a lie. Even now, Ness couldn’t take off the mask of someone who _should_ thank a friend for putting up with him, even when those emotions were the first to be drained away.

“I failed her.” This was the time to cry, right? No tears came. “I failed all of them. I was never a hero. Nobody is. Doesn’t matter if we live 16 years like me, 75 years like an average person, or billions of years like one of you. The universe forgets all of us. It grows larger and colder with every passing second.”

Ness drew a breath. Even that sensation was foreign to him.

“What was it like, right after the big bang? When everything was so close and warm? Do you remember those times?”

Silence. Ness tried to swallow a lump in his throat.

“No, of course not. You were just hydrogen gas back then. So was I. I know all these other elements in my body come from you building larger atoms out of hydrogen and helium. Maybe you should have never done that. You probably think you’re creating something that will last, but you’re only destroying what was given to us.”

A sigh. His voice was distant in his ears.

“Nobody is innocent, are they? Not even in death. So maybe I fit in with you after all.” Ness smiled. “Goodbye, dear friends. PK Rockin Ω.”

Ness placed his hands on his head, directing all the energy and vibrations inside of his body instead of to the surrounding area. His vision flashed with pain. Though the sense of his own body was distant, he could tell that he was writhing around on the bed.

And through the pain, an image popped into his mind. Jeff, Paula, and Poo looking over his shoulder as he held a picture of them all standing together, arms wrapped around each other. Ness was smiling, and held up two fingers to the camera.

_“Say, ‘fuzzy pickles.’”_

No.

The image faded, and pain hit Ness in full force. He squirmed for it to go away.

His consciousness started to drift away.

No!

Go back.

Go _back_.

…Please.

The world went dark around Ness.

#

**209X:**

“And when I woke up, I didn’t have PSI,” Ness said. “I think my body must have deactivated my powers as a defense mechanism.”

After a pause, he released a sigh. Paula listened on the edge of her seat.

“And that’s the story?” she said.

“Yeah, that about sums it up.”

Paula leapt out of her chair and wrapped her arms around Ness, rocking him back and forth. Ness froze for a full five seconds before tentatively hugging her back.

“To think,” Paula said, “All this time, I never knew how close I was to losing you.”

“You’re not mad at me?” Ness said.

“How could I be?” She looked up at him and smiled. “You’re okay. What else could I ask for?”

“Well, some good luck in beating Porky and possibly Giygas would be nice.”

Paula laughed. “Promise me that every time you even _want_ to hurt yourself, you’ll tell me.”

“Paula, I get those thoughts so often that-”

“Promise me, Ness.”

Ness sighed. He knew when there was no talking around an issue. “I promise.”

“Good.” Paula squeezed him tighter. “I’m so happy that you’re okay, Ness. I’m sure this goes without saying, but I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”

Good thing Paula made it clear, because it didn’t go without saying at all. He assumed she didn’t care about his fate after he promised to love her and then abandoned her.

If only his brain could be more logical. Because in retrospect, it was easy to put the pieces together. She threatened to melt a man’s face off in order to save him. Of course she cared about him at least a little. But cold judgment was different from hearing the words come out of her mouth.

Paula released him from her embrace, her expression turning melancholy.

“So those letters you were writing,” she said. “They were…”

“Suicide notes. Probably should have written one for Poo, but it’s hard to keep a rational mindset when you’re in a bad place.”

“Well, the best thing to do would be…” Paula cut herself off. “I’m sorry. It’s hard to know how to talk about this. I assume you’re aware that suicide is not, er, a good thing?”

“Yeah. When I’m in this state, at least.”

Paula nodded. “It just scares me to see you talking about this so calmly. Like you might try again.”

“I don’t think I will. Things aren’t amazing, but I’m in a better place than I was before.”

Paula crossed her arms. “Than when we were dating, you mean.”

“I, uh…”

“I just wish you told me sooner. It makes me think that-” she took a deep breath. “No, I’m not going to let my emotions override yours here. I’m always here for you if you need anything at all. I mean that, Ness.”

“Thank you, Paula. I’m lucky to have a friend like you.”

This time, he was the one who stepped forward and hugged her. He let himself fall into her arms, hoping that she wouldn’t take the gesture to mean more than he intended. The feeling of human touch, the warmth from her body… This was the one part he missed from their relationship.

“Really,” Ness said. “My story might have taken a dark turn if you weren’t so caring and accepting. The way I see it, I owe you everything.”

“And I owe you everything as well,” Paula said, “For being there when the whole world turned against me. So I guess it balances out. I’m just happy you’re okay keeping me around when I can’t stop being attracted to you.”

Oh, and them hugging probably wasn’t helping matters.

“And I’m grateful you’ve been letting me have my space.” Ness sighed. “I mean, this has to be harder for you than it is for me.”

“I suppose.” Paula released Ness and yawned, cupping her mouth. “Oh man, it’s good that I got this all out. I have a feeling that I’ll sleep like a baby tonight.”

“You mean waking up crying every so often?” Ness smirked.

“Eh, that’s not entirely off the table.” Paula stretched her arms up to the ceiling. “Guess there’s one way to find out.”

After Ness nodded, he realized how tired he was as well. And opening up about his past made the air around him feel lighter. A big grin came to his face, and this time, it felt natural.

“You should definitely recharge your psychic energy before we take on Porky. Goodnight, Paula.”

“Goodnight, Ness.”

She walked over to the room that they were sharing in the new bunker. After opening the door, she turned back to face him.

“I wanted to say that I know you don’t love me the same way I love you,” Paula said. “I saw you try your hardest to create those feelings for me, and I know it didn’t work. But I also saw you care more about me than anyone else in this world, and I can see that you still do. So thank you, Ness. Thank you for being my friend. That’s enough for me.”

Paula closed the door, leaving Ness on his own. When he treated Paula like a friend, the shadows lurking in the back of his mind seemed to retreat a little further.

 _There’s… something you fear, lurking beneath the surface,_ Hinawa’s voice echoed in his mind. _Once it surfaces, you’ll have to face it head-on._

He didn’t necessarily feel _prepared_ to face whatever Hinawa was talking about, but he sure as hell was better off now than a couple days ago. Ness glanced at the closed door to his and Paula’s room before walking back over to the computer Paula used.

Maybe he could do a little more digging of his own into these queer identities.

#

Turns out that Paula was right about almost everything she said, while simplifying a few ideas. The word “queer,” while being generally accepted soon after the 21st century rolled around, was originally a slur, and some people continued to use it that way. Which only further explained why Paula liked it so much. There was something… defiant about the term. Paula told him during their relationship that her favorite quote was “I say, when life gives you a lemon, wing it right back and add some lemons of your own!” from Calvin and Hobbes. Fighting back with the slur originally thrown at her just seemed her style.

A safer (though less inclusive) term for queer was LGBTQIA+, but apparently people could agree on whether or not the Q meant “queer” or “questioning” and if the A meant “asexual” or “ally.” Though the article said a lot of people were angry at A meaning “ally,” so maybe not that? Was aromantic grouped under asexual? Was nonbinary grouped under transgender? He could have read ahead to see how it all turned out, but after repeated yawns arose unbidden in his throat he rubbed his eyes and shut off the computer.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

Ness whirled around to see Lucas leaning on the wall to his door. The dim light from above accentuated his bloodshot eyes and messier-than-normal hair.

“Just… curious about a few things before we head into the final fight against Pokey,” Ness said.

“I see. Well, it looked like you were nervous about me seeing, so I won’t pry. Are there any questions I can answer?”

“Actually, I have one. What was it like being… gay? I mean, in the small town you grew up in.” Ness coughed into his shirt sleeve. “Again I’m not… I’m just curious.”

“You don’t have to convince me that you’re not gay.” Lucas managed a weak smile. “Since I asked you a pretty personal question, I’d normally be happy to answer in turn. But I didn’t know about my sexuality until after I reforged the world with the help of the Dark Dragon. The atmosphere after that wasn’t exactly one of a small town.”

“And there were no signs as a kid that you didn’t fit in with everyone else? And that life was harder as a result?” Ness grimaced. “Sorry. That’s a pretty specific question.”

“But a good one.” Lucas furrowed his brow. “I mean, you’ve met Alec. He wanted to turn me into a ‘real man.’ So did my father, I guess. They probably wouldn’t have been thrilled if I wanted to spend the rest of my life with a boy. Egh, I’m probably not making sense.”

“No, 90s Eagleland is like that as well. The perfect man goes out and works while his wife takes care of the house and kids. Allow two men or two women to marry each other, and the whole system collapses. Maybe that’s why they’re uncomfortable with people like you.”

Not that Ness was innocent of that discomfort.

“Well, I’m not trying to tear anything down.” Lucas sighed. “Everyone else seemed so happy, living there. My brother woke me up early with a grin on his face and dragged me outside so we could look for bugs or whatever. Even if a world like that means I don’t have anyone to connect to, I miss it.”

“Of course. I’m not trying to sour the memories you hold dear. Just wondering if it’s possible to create a world that’s perfect for everyone.”

“I’ll let you know how that goes.” Lucas yawned. “Oh, and I think Poo is right about us coming from different dimensions.”

“That’s… good? I think? We don’t have to worry about messing up your past.”

“I’m still scared of being wrong. But my brother appearing again if he were the same person I knew would be rather strange.”

“You did mention him haunting you. Does that mean he’s…?”

“Yup. Dead as a drowned rat. That’s why I’m up, actually. I only have two kinds of dreams. The first is where after a loved one dies, you see them, only for them to leave you again. The second is after a loved one dies in your arms, and you relive that moment every night.”

The scariest part was Lucas’ matter-of-fact tone.

“Ah, but that’s not the point.” Lucas offered an apologetic shrug. “Let’s assume that we’re all contained within one timeline. No alternate dimensions, Giygas is dead. How would my brother appear in the past if he’s dead in my present?”

“If Porky took your brother back in time,” Ness said, “And then brought him back to your time afterwards, where the normal events took place.”

“Right, that’s the only way. Except I think it creates a paradox.”

Ness cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s take two events as true. First, Porky travels back to the past with my brother to ensure that the calamity happens. Second, my brother fell into Porky’s grasp as an indirect result of the calamity.”

“You would know the second point better than me, but that sounds right.”

“Do you see the problem, Ness? For one of those events to occur, the other has to already be in motion. He can’t take my brother back in time without the calamity, and the calamity can’t occur without him taking my brother back in time. So there’s no way to start this cycle that we’re in. Additionally, Porky is… taken care of in my present, so he’s not travelling back in time and messing things up.”

“All right, so that means…”

“That means it can’t be time travel. Poo’s predictions about dimensional travel and Giygas are probably correct.”

The hairs on the back of Ness’ neck stood up. Even more proof that Giygas was the shadowy hand behind the scenes, pushing them all together. And when Ness and his friends finally clashed against Porky, what was Gigyas looking for?

If only he had just another day to piece together everything that happened and formulate a coherent plan. But even then, who was he without PSI and prophecies from the future to guide his hand? Just a rusted weapon with no owner to wield him.

“Well, I’m happy to know that we won’t be destroying your reality,” Ness said.

“I am too.” Lucas frowned. “But that opens up another door. What should we do with this world once we save it, Ness?”

“I don’t think we can afford to focus on that right now.”

Lucas hesitated, and then nodded. “I see. Well, you should probably rest up. I’ll be up for a while before I work up the courage to see my brother’s death again.”

“Listen, if there’s anything I can do-”

“Knowing that you care is enough. Please rest up, Ness.”

Oh. He wanted to be left alone. Ness nodded and ducked into his assigned room. After closing the door, he released a sigh, prodding around his bed to make sure he wasn’t going to jump onto Paula’s mattress by accident.

After climbing onto his bed and flopping down on top of the sheets, he finally let his body relax. He didn’t bother to crawl under the dusty blankets before drifting off to sleep.

#

Perhaps Lucas’ talk about dreams rubbed off on him, because Ness awoke with the vague sensation that he was forgetting an important dream. Whatever it was, the dream left him with a light feeling that almost convinced him that he was about to float away.

The grim atmosphere returned the moment he stepped out into the common area. Other members of the underground community were up and about, most of them staring blankly at computers. And these were the people who were anti-technology, huh? Well, no point in worrying about it right then.

Ness walked up to Paula and Lucas. “What time is it? Where’s Poo?”

“It’s about ten,” Paula said. “I’m sure Porky will be expecting us soon. I would have liked to get the drop on him earlier, but I needed to make sure my psychic energy was fully recharged.”

“I haven’t seen Poo,” Lucas said. “Maybe we should-”

“Bigass sword on your left. Excuse me, kind stranger.”

Ness glanced over his shoulder to see Poo skirting around people with a massive blade strapped to his back. He glanced over at Ness and grinned.

“What,” Paula said, “Is that.”

“Oh, this is my nifty little tool that I use for slicing through robots like the badass cyberpunk warrior I am.”

“Okay,” Ness said, “But where did you _get_ it?”

“A Starman Super in the Stonehenge base was carrying it. Don’t ask me why.”

Ness and Paula exchanged a glance. Poo released a sigh.

“It’s called the Sword of Kings, and it’s supposedly a rare weapon. Believe it or not, it doesn’t even make me less effective.”

“You normally fight without weapons?” Lucas said, raising an eyebrow.

“Somebody please show this kid some Jackie Chan movies,” Poo said. “With that out of the way, any questions before we head off to kick some ass?”

Lucas looked even more confused than before, but said nothing. Ness thought back to Lucas’ question about the possibility of Poo being cloned or brainwashed. With this dimensional travel business, wasn’t it possible that this Poo could be… an evil version of Poo or something? But then why would he let on that he was from a different dimension to begin with? Ness grunted. Why couldn’t the world go back to being as simple as “travel to these places, collect these things, and beat these creatures?”

“Perfect,” Poo said. “No time to waste. I mean, we have two hours to waste, but best to play it safe, hmm?”

“I’ll teleport us to the original bunker in the city,” Lucas said. “Then once we leave the underground, I’ll teleport us the normal way to the Empire Porky Building.”

“So the kind where it feels like we’re flying through the air?” Ness sighed. “I guess my motion sickness can take one for the team.”

“You never complained when you were warping us all over Eagleland,” Paula said.

“It’s like driving a car. I’m not the one who gets motion sick when I’m doing the driving. But obviously, I can’t…”

Lucas nodded, while Poo titled his head. The four of them stood in awkward silence before Paula threw her hands in the air.

“So are we teleporting or not?” she said.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re going,” Ness said, glancing over at Lucas.

Ness realized that during their adventure, even simple things like gathering everyone up for a teleport fell on him. Good thing all four of them here were experienced enough with combat not to need a natural leader to direct them around, because Ness had the feeling that they wouldn’t be getting one anytime soon.

“Right,” Lucas said. “Let’s get out there and save some lives.”

#

The teleportation route Lucas set up went off without a hitch, and a few minutes later the four of them were standing in front of the Empire Porky Building. Authorities would be able to track them down based on PSI signal, but that shouldn’t matter until after the world was either saved or doomed.

Nobody seemed to be guarding the building itself, other than the same two people who standing at the doors during their previous visit. Ness walked up past the fire-breathing dragon statues to the door, and it slid open automatically. Nobody made a move to stop him.

“This was how it went during my time as well,” Lucas said. “I can’t tell if he’s pretending that we’re beneath his notice, or if he genuinely doesn’t care.”

“It’s unnerving, to say the least.” Paula glanced around the first floor of the building. “Fuck it. If we’re walking into a trap, might as well do it in style.”

She stepped inside, walking up to the clone receptionist at the front desk.

“Excuse me,” Paula said. “We would like to see a fellow by the name of Porky.”

Well, that was one way to do it.

“Oh, yes!” The receptionist’s face perked up. “Master Porky is expecting you. Please take the elevator to the 100th floor.”

“Not this again.” Lucas shook his head. “I suppose there’s nothing to be done about it.”

He walked over to the elevator in the back of the room and led the rest of them inside. Lucas let the doors close, but didn’t push any of the buttons.

“Okay, I think we can talk freely in here,” Lucas said.

“Porky’s almost certainly got sound and video recorders everywhere in this building,” Ness said. “So don’t say anything that gives our plan away.”

Not that they really had a plan, but Ness saw no reason to admit that to Porky.

Lucas frowned. “How could he possibly be listening to us in here?” He put his hands on his hips. “Okay, I’m just going to trust you on that one. I just wanted to say that we shouldn’t expect this thing to actually take us where we want to go.”

“Oh, of course not.” Paula cracked her muscles. “Let’s take out whatever shit Porky throws at us along the way.”

Ness pressed the “100” button on the wall, and the elevator shot upwards. He glanced around at the rest of his friends, remembering the previous awkward elevator scene on the ride down after escaping Claus. Thankfully, Paula seemed too busy speculating what ambushes Porky would lay for them to relive the same memory. She mentioned robots, cyborgs, psychic clones, and genetically engineered animals. Lucas mentioned that Porky did make “chimeras” by combining different parts of animals, and Paula went on a long rant about the difference between a sphinxlike combination of animals and _real_ genetic engineering that only introduced a few genes from other organisms.

“As fascinating as this discussion is,” Poo said, “I feel like I should mention that we are nearing the 100th floor.”

“How do you know?” Lucas said.

“Oh, I saw the height of each floor from outside, and used my Mu senses to figure out how quickly we’re rising. We should be arriving… now.”

The elevator slowed and made a _ding_ noise as it stopped.

“Wait, no ambushes or gauntlet of challenges?” Paula snorted. “And here I was hoping to get my exercise in for the day.”

The door opened to a hallway with walls and floor of steel. Flanking each side were clear vats of green liquid containing children curled up in fetal positions. With the floating hair, no clothes, and knees covering part of their face, it was difficult to tell for sure, but each one looked the same. In fact, they all looked like…

“Tracy!” Ness ran out of the elevator and pressed his hands against one of the glass tanks. “Tracy, can you hear me?”

“Ness,” Paula put a hand on his shoulder. “You know they’re not-”

“Not real? Is that what you were going to say?” He whirled around and glared at her. “He must have taken her from a different timeline and cloned her. All these people are… just like her. They’re here because Pokey wants to get at _me._ ”

“Oh, perfect,” came a voice from the far end of the hallway. “You arrived just in time.”

Ness looked over to see Dr. Andonuts by the door at the end of the hallway wearing shades and carrying a ray gun up to his ear like a stealth operative. And in front of him was Claus, face somehow both stiff and devoid of tension. Claus summoned his beam sword and leveled it towards Ness and the others.

“Nice getup, geezer,” Paula said, summoning her axe. “Now is the time where you tell us where your son went.”

“Oh, please do chase after him. He’s past here, and even further beyond where Master Porky is waiting for you. In fact, if Master Porky said that if you didn’t show up, he would release the virus early.”

“Oh, so if he wants to see us,” Poo slowly drew his blade, “You’ll just let us through without any problem, yes?”

Dr. Andonuts flashed a smile that didn’t meet his eyes. “I will let him through. I’m afraid the rest of you won’t survive to set eyes on Master Porky.”

Dr. Andonuts pointed his gun at Poo and fired. A flash of light blinded Ness, and when his vision returned he saw Poo standing behind one of the vats while a black mark burned in the elevator door behind where he was standing a moment before.

So that was what the sunglasses were for.

Claus dragged his plasma sword along the metal floor, leaving burn marks as he lunged forward. Paula and Poo were the ones who met his charge, swinging axe and sword to keep the masked attacker at bay.

“Go,” Paula said. “Can’t risk ignoring his bluff.”

Ness looked back at the dozens of Tracys floating in clear liquid. No time to second guess Paula’s words when he knew she was right.

Ness ran passed Claus, who as promised did not attack. He ran towards Dr. Andonuts, and watched as the scientist leveled his gun and fired several more shots. They weren’t aimed at him, but someone close by, which meant Lucas must be following. Asking if he was okay abandoning his brainwashed brother would only waste precious seconds. Ness had to trust that Lucas understood the consequences of his decisions.

“Stay back,” Dr. Andonuts said. “Only young Ness may-”

A blast of ice flew over from his shoulder and slammed into Dr. Andonuts, spreading across his body and freezing him solid mid-word.

Thanks, Paula.

Ness barreled into the door, which luckily ended up being the kind that swung open on its own. He stumbled out into a larger room filled with the same clear vats of green liquid. Lucas burst through the door the next second, nearly crashing into Ness.

“Is this where they grow clones?” Lucas said. “Ugh, we have to keep moving if we want to reach Porky in time.”

Ness took a moment to look at the people inside of the vats. It was harder to tell their age since they were all disfigured, in a way that was too brutal to be nature’s work alone. The fact that some of them had perfectly still, wide open eyes told Ness that they were dead.

Was this what Porky meant to do? Drag Ness’ heart across burning hot coals before releasing the virus?

“We have to go, Ness.”

Ness snapped out of his thoughts and ran after Lucas. The room had a convoluted path that twisted and turned, with what seemed like an endless supply of circular tanks continuing along either side of the twisting path. They seemed to all be clones of the same person, though Ness didn’t stare long enough to confirm. The person had brown hair instead of blond, so at least it wasn’t Tracy or his mother.

“These clones…” Lucas shook his head. “No, they can’t be.”

They did seem less and less disfigured as Ness and Lucas went along. They actually looked like…

Oh no.

Ness and Lucas turned the final corner of the room to see Kumatora leaning back on one of the vats next to the exit. When she saw them, she yawned and cracked her neck before standing up straight.

“It’s rude to keep a girl waiting, you know,” she said.

“Get out of our way.” Lucas summoned his plasma sword. “We’re here for Porky.”

Kumatora walked towards Ness and Lucas, sniffing the air. “Oh, you _did_ bring him here for me. Or that could be the smell of neither of you wearing deodorant. Wouldn’t put it past a couple of teenage boys.”

Who was she talking about?

“Are you going to attack us or not?” Ness said.

“Oh, no.” Kumatora halted a few paces in front of Lucas. “I have no intention of fighting either of you.”

“Then let us pass,” Lucas said.

“Oh, surely you can’t be _that_ blind, Lucas.”

Lucas gritted his teeth. “I know all these dead clones are my mother, Kuma. No need to rub it in. I want to see Porky and make him pay.”

“Do you wonder why Porky didn’t barrage you with a swarm of psychic clones based off Hinawa? LifeTech couldn’t break her. She could read their minds, and wouldn’t be lulled into subservience. Every single one resisted.”

“Kuma…” Lucas’ voice was dangerously soft.

“So they used her as a test for their new virus. A weapon that they could unleash on entire countries to turn them to dust. All without an indication as to what was going on so that they couldn’t counterattack.”

“So let me go and fight Porky, damn it.”

“That’s the part you misunderstand,” Kumatora said. “This all happened before Porky showed up.”

Lucas flinched. “You mean my mother…”

“Porky didn’t interfere in our timeline, Lucas. The original Hinawa died to the virus. Thousands of clones died to the virus. They were all helpless. They were all alone.” She stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re a smart boy, Lucas. You know that this Porky couldn’t have caused the calamity.”

“Because he took my brother from after the calamity happened,” Lucas said.

“Yes, yes.” Kumatora grinned. “None of this is his fault. This world was always going to slaughter your mother with or without him, Lucas. Over and over and _over_ again. Don’t you think that such a world needs to be burned down and grown anew?”

“Lucas,” Ness cut in. “I know this is personal, but-”

“But what, Ness?” Lucas turned to face him. “But _what?_ ”

“Lucas, you’re scaring me.”

“Look into my eyes and tell me if they care, Ness.” Lucas deactivated his plasma sword. “What’s the point? I was trying to tell myself that our problems stem from Porky, but that’s not true. You know it isn’t true.”

Ness opened his mouth, but no words came out of his mouth. Because Lucas and Kumatora were right. After Gigyas and Pokey left, evil persisted in Eagleland. Corrupt officials like Mayor Pirkle and violent cops like Captain Strong remained in power, while all of Eagleland turned on Paula for accepting who she was.

And of course this world was the same. Dealing with one person could never chase away all the shadows.

“I’m glad you came around right when it mattered.” Kumatora flashed a sad smile. “Now, while you ensure that this world follows its natural course, I’m going to stop the multiverse from being consumed. Catch you later, kid.”

Kumatora brushed past Lucas, who was staring at the ground. Ness inched closer to him, reaching out but then hesitating. Lucas looked up, and Ness could see a single tear running down each of his cheeks.

“Tell me, Ness,” Lucas said. “After seeing what LifeTech did to your sister and my mother, are you still determined to save this world from its own fate?”

“I am,” Ness said. “Is there a problem with that?”

“A problem?” Lucas chuckled, but there was no energy in it. “I don’t know, Ness. I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“Lucas, please. We need to focus on Porky for now.”

“Oh, but he isn’t the root of my evils.” Lucas walked towards the exit, back turned to Ness. “He never would have rose to power on his own. It’s regular people like you and me who prop him up there. So the only way to take down evil is to…”

“I agree that we need to fix the world. But saving it comes first.”

“I’ll give you one last chance,” Lucas said, still facing away. “Turn around and walk away.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

Lucas whirled around, his plasma sword flashing to life. The light orange light from his blade illuminated the tear stains on his face.

“Then I have to kill you, Ness.”


	12. The Last Time the World Bleeds

**Content Warning: Suicide**

**One Year Ago:**

Ness was falling.

So this is what death felt like. All those years ahead of him and he really decided to end it all on a whim.

But it wasn’t just a stupid decision, was it? It was an itch buried under his skin, lurking behind his smile for months. Years? Ness couldn’t tell.

He still regretted it now. Granted, he certainly didn’t _deserve_ to feel the joy and relief that he did after breaking up with someone as kind and supportive as Paula. But that didn’t mean ending it all would help anyone. Of course he was a burden to his family and friends. Of course he _should_ die.

But his death wasn’t what they wanted. Hopefully they wouldn’t spend too much time mourning for him. Tracy, his mother, Paula, Jeff if he was out here… all such wonderful people with full lives ahead of them. No need to drag themselves down by caring about him.

Maybe it was just the selfish part of him that wanted to live, then. After his first taste of joy, he wanted more. And in this case, listening to his own silly desires would have saved everyone a lot of pain.

Still, nothing he could do about it at this point. Ness closed his eyes. He kept falling, falling… eventually, he stopped worrying that he would hit the bottom. Either the end would come, or he would be here for an eternity, caged with his own thoughts.

So he stayed still until even the sensation of falling faded. It was replaced by a feeling of floating. This wasn’t so bad. Even if it continued forever, Ness didn’t think he would mind it.

“Ness.”

He opened his eyes and looked up at a golden sky above him. There weren’t any stars, but a green aurora streaking through the gilded sky was almost as good. He realized he was floating in water and rotated his body upright. His feet touched ground and the water came up to his chest. It glowed first regal purple, then soft pink, then deep blue, and back to purple again. It was warm like a swimming pool after acclimation.

“Do you recognize this place, Ness?”

He looked in the sound of the voice to see an island above the water, glowing yellow. Sitting on the steps to the island was a version of himself. This second Ness wore the same baseball cap and stiped shirt, but there was something deep and ancient in his eyes that made Ness hesitate.

“Magicant.” Ness glanced around at the familiar spikes rising up from the lake. “The Sea of Eden. So you’re just a figment of my imagination, then.”

“Yes and no. The way I appear to you is a result of the inner workings of mind, but I am quite real.”

A baseball bat appeared in the imposter’s hands. He twirled it as he looked up at the sky and smiled.

“This is where everything began,” the imposter said. “Even after all these years, I still think of this place as home. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“If you weren’t created by my mind,” Ness said, “Then what are you doing inside of it?”

The imposter cocked his head. “Saving you, of course. What else would I be doing?”

“Saving me from…” Ness sighed. “Let’s start with the basics. What’s your name? You already knew mine.”

“My original name was taken from me.” The imposter looked off in the distance. “Call me whatever you like.”

“If I’m Ness, then you can be Sen. One S, and don’t ask me where the other one went.”

Sen chuckled. “As good a name as any I suppose. Now, Ness. Do you really not remember what you just did to yourself?”

“I remember.”

“Then you should be able to figure out what I am saving you from, yes?” Sen shook his head. “You seemed perfectly intelligent when we met before.”

“When we… what?” Ness made a mental note and moved on. “All right, so how are you saving me from myself?”

“Easy. I took away your PSI. All the energy that almost killed you dissipated back into the psychic realm. I think I even managed to save you from severe brain trauma.” Sen beamed. “You’re welcome.”

“What?” Ness recoiled back. “Uh, and you’re going to give it back to me, right?”

Sen scoffed. “You clearly can’t be trusted with it. Besides, that sounds like a _lot_ of work.”

“Please.” Ness clasped his hands together. “I’ll do anything.”

“Why do you want PSI?” Sen frowned. “In some worlds, it’s seen as a curse.”

In some… _worlds?_ Maybe Ness was dead after all, and death’s gatekeeper was just messing with him.

“I’m nothing without PSI,” Ness said, looking down at the water by his chest. “That was the only reason I’m special. Paula has a way with people. Jeff’s a genius. Poo is prince on the path to enlightenment. I’m just me.”

“You are an odd child, Ness.” Sen furrowed his brow. “No, I can’t risk you turning on yourself with PSI again. Especially when you don’t have enough control over your abilities to stop yourself when you realize that you do not want to disappear.”

“You can’t do this to me, Sen. If I wake up without PSI, then I’m useless.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that part. I have grand plans for you, Ness.”

His tone sounded sincere, as if Ness should appreciate being a pawn in his grand plan. Ness sunk lower into the water.

“Is that why you saved me? Just to use me later?”

“Again, the answer is yes and no.” The baseball bat disappeared from Sen’s hand. “Oh, looks like my time here is almost up. Any burning questions before I go? Actually, you probably shouldn’t bother. You’ll forget this entire conversation right when you wake up next morning.”

“Why do you look like me?” Ness said.

“I do?” Sen glanced down at himself. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure, yeah.”

“That’s odd. I’m supposed to appear as the person you fear the most. Now you asking my name makes a lot more sense.” Sen’s body started to fade out. “And oh, would you look at that. It’s time for us to say our goodbyes.”

“There’s no way for me to remember this conversation?” Ness said.

“Remember it, no. Know it, yes.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“The truth sometimes doesn’t.” Sen grinned. “It was good to see you again, Ness. Tell Paula I say hi.”

“Wait-”

The world faded to black.

#

**209X**

Ness barely managed to summon his blade before Lucas lunged at him.

If he and Lucas were normal people, that bit of lost momentum probably would have cost him his life. Most duels were over in a matter of seconds, and he almost certainly wouldn’t be able to recover form starting on the back foot against an opponent like Lucas.

Good thing that he was no ordinary person.

Ness threw his blue-glass blade up in a makeshift defense to defend Lucas’ barrage of attacks. Lucas managed to sneak a couple hits through, but Ness counted himself lucky. While parrying Lucas’ attacks, Ness darted behind one of the vats for cover. Lucas growled as he circled around the tank containing one of his mother’s corpses.

“Why bother standing in my way if you are just going to run and hide, Ness?”

Ness circled counterclockwise around the vat. Because they both were right-handed, Ness could gain the advantage by staying close to Lucas’ unarmed left side. He shuffled towards Lucas and lashed out with his right arm, keeping most of his body behind the vat. Lucas leapt away, but at least he couldn’t counterattack.

“Come out and fight me head on,” Lucas said, “Or I’ll blast you to bits with PSI.”

“Why should I believe that you wouldn’t do that either way? At least I have cover here.”

“You have my word, Ness. I won’t use any PSI. I just want an honest duel to decide the fate of the world. Your will against my own.”

Ness hesitated, keeping his body behind the glass container.

“I understand why you want to save this world, Ness. And you must know why I want to watch it fall. Show me why this world deserves to live on. I’ll accept your convictions if they are strong enough for you to kill a friend.”

Ness narrowed his eyes, taking a step back and gripping his blade with both hands. Even after only knowing him for half a day, Lucas was almost as close to him as Paula or Jeff.

But his fate against the world? Ness would pick the same option every time.

He stepped out from behind the vat, holding his sword at Lucas. The two of them continued to rotate counterclockwise around each other. Lucas’ muscles were tense, reminding Ness of a jaguar hiding in the foliage. His footsteps were silent on the metal ground. And his eyes told Ness that there would be no going back.

“Tell me the truth, Ness,” Lucas said. “Could you go back to your world if you wanted to?”

“No.”

“And if you did have the choice to leave this all behind, would you turn tail and leave?”

Ness smirked. “That’s never been my style, Lucas. I’ll save this world over your dead body if I have to.”

“Exactly what I wanted to hear. I will mourn for you after I strike you down.”

Ness and Lucas lunged at the same time, and their blades clashed together. Plasma hummed against glass that didn’t melt. Lucas looked at peace.

Ness knew many people who would kill for a cause. He knew far fewer people who would die for one, especially when limiting their own power for something as fleeting as honor.

Ness tried to push the offense against Lucas, but he found himself guarding against Lucas’ attacks just as often. He received about as many blows as he landed. Against Claus, Lucas was a perched crane who never let danger come close. Against Ness, he was a cobra who danced back and forth before lunging so quickly that he became a blur. His footwork and skill with the blade was pristine, and Ness would enjoy watching Lucas fight in any other context.

Or in this context, even. If Ness must lose one fight, he wouldn’t be ashamed if it was to Lucas.

“I hate how much I enjoy this,” Lucas said, sweeping his blade in a wide arc towards Ness. “One way or another, it will all be over soon.”

“It will.” Ness parried Lucas’ attack. “If you tear this world apart, promise me that you’ll rebuild it so that nobody has to create such senseless violence again.”

“Perhaps I will. I was alive when the virus first ravaged the world, so perhaps I have immunity. But you must promise me that if you win, you won’t let anyone create graveyards filled with mothers like this.”

“I promise, Lucas.” Ness darted forward with a stab. “This is the last time the world bleeds.”

“This is the last time the world bleeds,” Lucas agreed.

The two stopped talking to catch their breath while continuing to wear each other down. The last time Ness felt this unstoppable was after he defeated his personal Nightmare inside his own Magicant, but here he was only managing to hold even.

So this was what happened when two seasoned fighters poured their soul into defending their cause. Every time Ness was out of energy, he reached into a part of himself that he didn’t know existed to draw on just that little bit more of strength. And on the other side, he could see Lucas doing the same thing.

Why did killing have to be so beautiful?

“Don’t hesitate, Ness.” Lucas looked him in the eyes. “If the moment comes, don’t hesitate to claim your victory. Because I won’t hold back.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Ness said.

“And if I strike the final blow,” Lucas said, “I will hold you in my arms until you take your final breath. Just like I did with my brother.”

“And just like I will do with you, my friend,” Ness said.

Lucas continued his assault while he smiled at Ness, the heat from his plasma blade distorting the air as it flashed by. Ness nodded in acknowledgement. Here they were, two hearts clashing against each other, two souls trying to blow out the other’s flame. And Ness could tell that they were both on their last legs.

But Ness couldn’t fail. Not with the fate of the world resting on his back. Lucas stepped back, panting as sweat ran down his face. Ness took a moment to lower his blade and rest his stiff arms.

He locked eyes with Lucas. One last barrage to decide the winner.

Both of them stepped forward, brandishing their blades. Ness put all his energy into one last swing, and he saw Lucas doing the same across from him.

Before their swords could cross, a blast of blinding energy sent Ness stumbling back.

Betrayal turned to confusion when the light cleared and he saw Lucas reeling as well. Lucas looked past Ness, and his eyes widened. He raised his swordless hand to use a PSI power.

Three thoughts flew through Ness’ mind in the same split second. One, a PSI power from Lucas would almost certainly kill him. Two, Lucas probably wasn’t aiming at him, and he would just be collateral damage in this mess. Three, the person Lucas was blasting might not be a friend if they aimed their blast at both Ness and Lucas.

Ness’ survival instincts kicked into motion. With possible threats ahead of and behind him, he dove behind one of the circular tanks. There was only a slim chance that it would save his life, but it was better than taking the full force of a PK Love. With cover between him and Lucas, there was nothing more he could do. So he turned around to look at the person who fired off the blast of energy, and saw a woman with long, brown hair and a red dress that swayed in a wind that wasn’t there while sparks flew from her palms.

Hinawa.

She rushed forward and ran past Ness, thrusting a palm forward and summoning a shield of hexagons. Lucas released a burst of psychic energy that bounced off the PSI shield that Hinawa created, but left her clutching her arm.

“You need to stop this, Lucas,” Hinawa said. “Why do you want so many others to suffer the same fate that these poor souls did?”

“Because sooner or later, humans will tear their own world apart,” Lucas said. “And if it’s sooner, I know that at least the two of us won’t be caught up in it. We can start a new life for ourselves, Hinawa.”

“And what about Ness?” Hinawa growled. “Has your heart grown that cold, Lucas?”

“It has. Porky showed me what people will do to each other when given the chance. This is the only way to ensure that all of this suffering finally stops.”

“Then you are no different from your brother.”

Lucas flinched. “Perhaps you are right. That is why I gave Ness a chance to prove himself.”

“Bullshit,” Hinawa hissed. “I’m sick of people thinking they can make all my decisions for me. And I’m sure there are millions of people out there who feel the same. None of us asked to bet the world on a duel we have no control over.”

Ness continued catching his breath from behind the vat. The longer Hinawa could distract Lucas, the better chance for a miracle.

“Please, mother,” Lucas said. “I didn’t want to get you involved in this. After this corrupt world is gone, everyone else will see you as a real person. Don’t you want that?”

“You dragged me into this mess when you decided that everyone else should suffer the same fate as the people who shriveled and died in the cells next to mine. I couldn’t hear screams when they opened their mouths, but I watched them squirm and writhe for hours until they finally fell still.” Hinawa met Lucas’ gaze. “If I must kill you to prevent that from happening to the rest of the world, so be it.”

“Then I have no choice but to knock you out so I can continue my duel with Ness. I am sorry, mother.”

Lucas’ eyes turned steely. He made a curt motion with his hand, and a shockwave of energy shot out from his body. Cracks spread across the metal floor and the glass containers as the energy radiated outwards and broke through Hinawa’s PSI shield. The force of the shield shattering sent her flying back, and she skidded to a halt a few paces back. Lucas walked towards her, a white glow on his left hand.

“You’re just going to sleep for a little bit. Nobody’s going to hurt you again, I promise. Hypos-” Lucas’ eyes widened. “Behind you!”

Ness jerked his head towards Hinawa to see her turning. When he saw a flash of orange, he knew she was too slow.

Claus rounded the corner and rammed his plasma sword into Hinawa’s side while she was rotating to face him. Unlike Claus’ attacks against Lucas or Ness, the attack didn’t bounce off her skin and leave her with a small burn mark.

Instead, the sword went right through her waist until the tip popped out the other side.

For a moment, time seemed to freeze. Hinawa was facing Ness with wide eyes and an open mouth. Then she looked over and put her hand up to Claus’ cheek.

“Let me look into your eyes,” she said. “Please.”

Claus went stiff. Lucas ran over and grabbed Hinawa’s other arm. His hands glowed green as he pumped energy into her body with Lifeup.

“No no no,” Lucas said. “This isn’t happening. I promised myself I wouldn’t let this-”

“It’s okay, Lucas.” Hinawa’s voice was calm as Poo’s during meditation. “I don’t have the same superhuman endurance as you or Ness. I don’t think any PSI on this earth will let me survive what just happened.”

“No, I can save you.” Lucas glanced up at Claus. “Don’t you dare pull that sword out of her body. The wounds might cauterize, and then… we can…”

His voice trailed off as he continued using Lifeup on Hinawa. Claus started to take shallow, panicked breaths as he looked at Hinawa. She met his gaze and tilted her head.

“I see now. This all happened to you because of me. You were looking for revenge, and so you…” Hinawa gasped in pain.

“Hang in there mother,” Lucas said, panic seeping into his voice. “I’ve got you.”

Hinawa kept her left hand on Claus’ cheek while reaching over to Lucas’ cheek with her right. She looked back and forth between the two boys, smiling as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I am happy I got to meet both of you before I…” She squeezed her eye shut and grimaced.

“Don’t talk like that,” Lucas said. “You’re going to be okay. Everything’s going to be all right.”

Ness rose up from his hiding place and took slow steps towards Hinawa. She opened her eyes and drew ragged breaths as she looked up at him.

“Did you find the darkness inside yourself, Ness?” she said.

“Not yet. Is there anything I can-”

“It is closer to the surface. Don’t fight it, Ness.”

Don’t fight the darkness? If she weren’t so lucid, Ness would dismiss those words as ramblings from someone on their deathbed.

“Help me, Ness,” Lucas said.

“I can’t use-”

“You have to help me.” Lucas glanced over at Ness with desperate eyes.

Ness walked over and placed a hand on Hinawa’s arm, the same one that Lucas was clutching. Maybe now, when it mattered the most, was when Ness would get his abilities back and manage to save someone. He cleared his mind and took a deep breath.

“Lifeup γ.”

He knew even without looking that he failed. He would have recognized the sensation of power flowing through his veins instantly.

“Ness, _please._ ”

“It’s all right, Lucas,” Hinawa said. “Nobody can save me now. I’m sorry I have to leave you again so soon.”

“You’re going to live, damn it.” His face was pale as a sheet. “I’m not letting this happen again.”

Hinawa turned towards Claus. “I never knew you, but I’m still sorry that you suffered so much for me. I am going to miss you both, my children.”

Ness saw Claus’ grip on his plasma sword tighten, but he didn’t move quickly enough to stop Claus from ripping his blade out of Hinawa’s body. She let out one final gasp and fell to the floor, her eyes glassy as she landed with a dull _thud._

“Mom. Mom!”

Lucas knelt down and grabbed onto her chin, turning her face so that her dead eyes were looking at him.

“This isn’t how it ends, mom. You’re going to be okay. Everything’s going to be…”

Lucas squeezed his eyes shut. Ness glanced over at Claus, who deactivated his plasma sword took steps away from Hinawa’s body.

“Why?” Lucas brushed loose strands of hair away from Hinawa’s face. “Why am I still not strong enough to save you?”

Lucas lowered Hinawa’s arm and put her hand up to her chest, doing the same with her other arm. He reached out with two fingers and closed her eyelids. Then he stood up and walked over to where his deactivated plasma sword was lying on the ground. He summoned the orange blade and walked towards Claus.

“Lucas, what are you doing?” Ness said.

Lucas pressed a hand to his cheek. His fingers glowed green, and all the cuts from his duel with Ness vanished. He walked over to Claus, who summoned his own beam sword and held it in shaky hands.

“Lucas, I don’t think we need to-”

Lucas shoved a finger at Claus. “You’re going to pay for taking the one person I loved away from me.”

Lucas lunged forward, lashing out in a wild craze. Sparks flew as the two plasma swords crossed. Ness darted over to support Lucas, but lowered his blade when he realized that Claus wasn’t attacking. And instead of a wall of blades, his defense looked more like a glass door about to fall over and shatter.

Lucas bore his teeth like a wolf as he landed blow after blow against Claus. After about a dozen successful strikes, Lucas aimed his next slash at Claus’ hands. Claus stumbled back and dropped his blade, which deactivated once it hit the ground. Lucas kicked it away and stepped up to his brother.

It was then that Ness saw how Lucas towered over Claus. Lucas rammed his blade into Claus time after time, until Claus fell on his back. His mask rolled off his head, and he looked up at Lucas with the expression of a terrified child.

“B-brother?” Claus said, his voice hoarse.

“Stop acting like you’re human.” Lucas slammed his foot into Claus’ face.

“Lucas, that’s enough,” Ness said.

He ran towards Lucas with his blade in hand. Lucas didn’t even turn around to face Ness, instead thrusting his left hand behind him and firing a blast of psychic energy towards Ness. The force sent him flying back, and he slammed into the floor. His vision swam.

No time to let pain drag him down.

Ness gritted his teeth and rose to his feet. He saw Lucas holding his blade up to Claus’ neck. Lucas raised his plasma sword above his head, and Claus curled into a ball.

Lucas was actually going to kill Claus.

“Brother, I’m sorry.” Claus’ voice quivered. “I didn’t mean to hurt mom.”

Ness saw Lucas begin to bring his sword down. He let out a shout and started running towards Lucas. He looked away when he knew that he would be too late.

No scream. Ness looked back to see Paula kneeling in front of Lucas, shadowing over Claus. She held both ends of her axe in either hand, using it as a pole to brace herself against the weight of Lucas’ plasma sword that hummed inches from her face. Claus was still lying on the floor, unharmed.

“Listen to me, Lucas.” Paula’s voice was soft as a whisper. “I know that feeling of anger making your blood pump. How nothing matters until you’ve watched the people who hurt you pay. I’ve been there too.”

Lucas’ grip tightened on his plasma sword.

“Your brother isn’t responsible for this,” Paula said. “You know who the real culprit is. And I promise you, Lucas. We will make him regret what happened to your mother.”

“You mean Porky.” Lucas continued to hold his sword at Paula’s head.

“I’ve spent long nights thinking about what I’m going to do to him,” Paula said. “Thinking of ways to make him scream and wriggle as I make his death as painful as possible. We will do that to him, Lucas. Together.”

Lucas hesitated.

“I don’t judge you for your rage, Lucas. Sometimes, it’s the only thing that keeps me going. But you have to direct it at the right person. And Claus is just another victim along Porky’s long, long trail of blood.”

Lucas leaned back and deactivated his plasma sword. Claus scooted away until his back was against the wall. He clasped his hands together and trembled. Lucas dropped his deactivated sword hilt to the ground, taking a step back.

“I… what’s wrong with me?” Lucas glanced over at Ness. “I was ready to kill you. I was about to take the life of my own brother. And for what?”

He sank to his knees, buried his face in his hands, and started sobbing.

Was Ness’ own darkness that Hinawa mentioned going to rear its ugly head soon?

“Oh,” came a raspy voice from behind. “This wasn’t in my plans. But none of it will matter in the end.”

Ness knew the voice even before he turned around. And when he did, he saw exactly what he expected to.

Pokey Minch, lying down in his spider mech with a smug smile on his face.


	13. A Cornered Animal

**Content Warning: Suicide, Torture**

**One Year Ago:**

When Ness woke up the morning after he tried to end his own life, the first thing he did was check to make sure the letters were still there. He breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted the three of them lined up on his dresser. He could dispose of them and nobody could judge him for this.

He picked the three letters and focused his mind to use PK Fire.

Nothing.

After a second and a third try, he set the letters down on his bed and hugged his knees. He told himself that it would probably take a while for his powers to return, trying to quiet the voice in his mind telling him that they were gone forever.

Well, there were certainly ways to dispose of paper without PSI, and now that he didn’t need to stand ready for Paula’s needs, he could use all day to think of a plan to make sure nobody would ever know what he planned.

Ness flopped back onto his bed. Onett’s trash cans were nasty enough that most people wouldn’t eat burgers from them even if they looked fine (thank goodness Paula stopped making fun of him for that one years ago), so Ness could bury the letters under filth and garbage so that no reasonable person would search through. But if reporters saw him, and it looked like he was trying to hide something… then the whole world would know that one of its greatest heroes was worthless.

So many difficulties to consider. Ness rolled over and picked up the letter with the word “Paula” scribbled on it in barely legible handwriting. He remembered the gist of what he wrote to her, of course, but all details of last night were strangely foggy. What did he intend for his last words for her to be? Did he even want to know?

Eventually, curiosity won out. Ness opened the seal and pulled out a piece of notebook paper that still had the extra bits of dangling paper from being torn out of a composition book. Ness squinted at the scrawl of his handwriting. Was his penmanship really this bad?

_Dear Paula,_

_I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault, no matter what you think. I didn’t suffer because I was with you. I’m still terrified of being alone for the rest of my life. You’re going to become an adult and marry someone wonderful. And so will my other friends. And then we… won’t see each other anymore. I just wanted to stay close, Paula. I wanted to be at your side until the end, but I just made everything worse._

_Seems like that’s all I ever do._

_I know I’ve dragged you down. Dragged everyone down. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but one day you’ll be happy. You’ll find someone who can actually love you instead of carry out the motions like a puppet. But for that to happen, there’s something I need to ask._

_Please, let go of me._

_You are the one who defeated Gigyas. You are the one who used your fame to start charities. And you will be on top of the world again, soon enough. Make better friends than me. Fall in love and get married. Follow your dreams and make the world a better place. But for that happiness to come, you need to move on. It won’t happen in a week, a month, maybe even a year, but please don’t let me drag you down after death as well._

_Because I believe that your path lies across my grave._

_Hugs and kisses,_

_Ness <3_

When he set down the paper, tears blurred his vision. The sensation was foreign to him. But he didn’t wipe them away.

At least he finally cared enough to cry.

#

Ness pointed his blade at Porky. “What did you have in mind for me? I gave you every chance to run, but now I’m realizing I should have killed you back when we fought Giygas.”

Porky stuck his tongue out at Ness through the mech. “Come back into the throne room when you are ready to be broken.”

Ness felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. “What did you do to Jeff?”

“Not as much as I wanted to. That was my original plan for reducing you to a blubbering mess. Perhaps I should have kept him in captivity so I could flay every inch of skin off his body instead of trying to brainwash him.”

Ness tried to ignore the sickening feeling in his stomach. How could he beat Porky without violating his principles by looking away from the horror? Maybe this was the real challenge for him.

“One last thing,” Porky said. “You missed your last chance to kill me. No matter what happens, I can’t die.”

“Bullshit.” Paula crossed her arms. “I’ll cut your brain out and you’ll stop moving just like anyone else.”

“You are certainly welcome to try. But trust me, you will want to hear what I have to say first.”

Porky backed his mech through the exit to the lab area, coughing as he disappeared from sight. A cool sensation fell over Ness, and the cuts from his duel with Lucas vanished. He looked over to see a green glow on Paula’s hand. She smiled at him, followed by a glare in the direction of the door.

“Let’s make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else ever again,” Paula said. “I wonder if we can ever wash out all the blood we spilled by letting him live.”

“At the end of the day, he’s the one responsible,” Ness said. “But let’s figure that out after we put him six feet under. Are you ready, Lucas?”

“Is that a joke?” Lucas’ voice was soft as a whisper.

Ness glanced over to see him still on his knees, head in hands. Lucas drew ragged breaths, his hunched over shoulders rising with each inhale and falling with each exhale.

“You don’t want me to ruin everything again, Ness. I attacked my own mother. I was a hair’s width away from murdering my twin.” He glanced over at Ness, his eyes full of loathing. “And I tried to kill you.”

“You did _what?_ ” Paula raised her axe. “Please tell me I misheard you, Lucas.”

Ness put a hand on Paula’s shoulder. “I appreciate your concern, but now isn’t the time.”

“I would say that now is exactly the time to decide what to do about someone who might help us stop Porky,” Paula said.

“Ness.” Lucas rose to his feet. “You saw me go berserk when Kuma told me those things about my mother’s clones. Except that’s not even right, is it? I kept my control. I just _wanted_ to destroy this world so badly that I tried to strike you down. Who’s to say that it doesn’t happen again?”

Paula stepped in front of Ness. “All right, let’s make one thing clear. You don’t come near Ness again. Got it?”

“Paula…”

“No, she’s right.” Lucas offered a resigned shrug. “You were wrong to place your trust in me, Ness. Find someone who deserves it.”

“If you don’t hurry up,” came Porky’s muffled voice, “I might have to release that virus.”

“Let’s go,” Paula said. “Even Lucas recognizes that he needs some time to recover.”

Ness swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded. He turned around to follow Porky.

“One last thing,” Lucas said. “Can my brother go with you? I don’t trust myself to be alone with him.”

Ness looked back at Claus, who was still shrinking back from Lucas with wide eyes.

“Do you want to tag along with us?” Ness said. “It will be dangerous, but nowhere is really safe.”

Claus looked back and forth between Ness and Lucas. Then he nodded. He skirted around the far edge of the hallway to avoid Lucas and walked up to Ness, staring at his feet.

“I know it’s my fault,” he said. “I’m the one who hurt mom. Do you think I should die?”

“It’s not your fault, sweetie.” Paula put on her day-care smile. “We know who is responsible for this, and we’re going to kick his ass.”

For some reason, Claus seemed to loosen up a bit.

“Five… four…” Porky rasped.

“We’re coming.” Ness shook his head and walked through the door.

On the other side was a replica of Ness’ house, with a massive golden throne where the staircase should have been. In the living room area were people behind metal bars who looked like Ness’ mother. He froze when he saw that about half of them were shriveled and dead.

“She looks lovely as usual, isn’t she?” Porky snickered.

Ness forced himself to take a deep breath. “I should have known. But you’re not breaking me today.”

“You should have arrived sooner to save them,” Porky said. “Though I guess they were all doomed from the start. Funny, isn’t it?”

Paula burst through the doors, followed by Claus. She gasped when she saw the bodies in metal cages.

“Wait a goddamn fucking moment.” Paula took a step towards Porky. “I’m assuming the virus is capable of airborne travel. So you just…”

“Ah, glad you’re still as smart as you are beautiful,” Porky said. “That’s right. I released the virus into the public. It was before you arrived last night, actually. It’s nice how most illnesses don’t show symptoms right away, isn’t it? I like to imagine that they’re designed that way so that you pass on all that juicy goodness to your neighbors before you realize what happened.”

“Even you wouldn’t,” Ness said. “Pokey, I know you love messing with me, but now isn’t the time.”

“Don’t call me by that name.” Porky broke into a coughing fit. “And since when have you cared about what I will and won’t do? The only reason it matters to you now is that finally you’re not untouchable. It’s me who’s on top of the world. I’m just repaying the utter _apathy_ you showed me for all these years.”

“I think he’s telling the truth,” Claus said. “My memories are foggy, but there’s definitely something about wanting to destroy the world.”

“Doesn’t matter what he, no—" Paula took a deep breath. “What _it_ says. If those are infected people, the virus will be out in the population soon, and we’ll have no way to stop it.”

Ness looked again at the clones, which was a mistake. Six different faces all belonging to his mother staring at him in desperation… Ness took a step back and bumped into the door.

“You have to stop this, Pokey,” Ness said. “I’ll do anything you want. Please.”

“Oooh, anything I want.” Porky smirked. “How about… no.”

“What?” Ness tried to swallow and found the back of his throat dry. “Why not? You always wanted to be friends, right? We can be best friends forever.”

“I know when you’re not being genuine, Ness.” Porky shrugged. “Besides, there’s nothing in the world that can stop the virus from taking effect now. All I can do at this point is sit back and enjoy the show. That’s all I’ve ever been able to do when you’re around.”

“Let’s stop wasting our time.” Paula cracked her knuckles. “We were beat from the moment we showed up. Let’s show this creature how much it costs to do what even Giygas could not.”

“Feel free,” Porky said. “Let’s say that you do the impossible and find a way to kill me. I still die knowing that you will go down in pain, clawing at your skin. You won’t be able to see your family ever again, unless you want them to suffer the same fate. No matter what happens, you will die alone and unloved. That’s all I ever wanted. For the perfect little boy who had everything he wanted to finally understand pain.”

“You shouldn’t have bothered,” Ness said. “I know what pain is like, Porky. I’ve been there. And I’ll be happy to share some of it with you.”

Ness lunged forward, brandishing his blade as he wove in between metal cages. He could comfort his mother’s clones after making sure that Porky wouldn’t live to tear down more realities.

“Ooh, I’ll enjoy killing you.” Porky paused. “Oh, would that be too kind? Perhaps I should tear you apart limb by limb first.”

Ness sliced at the legs of Porky’s spider mech. His blade left dents, but not as much as he hoped.

Ness’ vision flashed white, and pain send him stumbling back a moment later.

What did Porky do?

Lightning cracked down from the sky onto Porky’s mech, which sparked with energy before returning to normal. Paula walked up next to Ness, placing a hand on his shoulder and using Lifeup to heal him.

“We need to get Claus out of here,” Ness said.

“You go ahead and do that. I’ll keep this creature at bay.”

“Oh dear.” Porky’s sarcasm was palpable. “I’m afraid that won’t be necessary.”

He pressed a button on his mech, which made a nose that sounded like a sparrow chirping. Ness heard a pained scream from behind. He turned around just in time to see Claus hurdling over the steel cages that the clones were trapped in, brandishing his plasma sword. His eyes were filled with pain as he lunged at Ness. After Ness parried a few of his attacks, Claus shook out of his state and winced in pain.

“Where does it hurt, Claus?” Ness said. “Can I help?”

“Oh, Ness.” Porky coughed. “How fitting of you to give it a name. But don’t worry. My little creation won’t be remembering anything you told it after I’m through with it.”

Another sparrow’s call. Claus grabbed onto his head and whimpered. Behind him, Ness heard cracking thunder and glass against metal. He could trust Paula to take care of herself. The terrified boy in front of him was the one who needed his help.

“Don’t get too close,” Claus said. “You saw what I did to my mom.”

“That wasn’t your fault.” Ness offered a hand. “Come on. We need to get you out of here.”

His vision flashed white again, followed by the same sense of pain.

“Do you like that attack?” Porky said. “How does it feel, to never know where all that suffering is coming from? Oh, but you must like it. Since you were _perfect_ enough to fight against Giygas.”

“Take my hand, Claus.” Ness said. “I know that it hurts, but I’m here for you. We’ll get you to a place where you’re safe.”

Claus frowned, shrinking back. “Why do you care about me?”

Ness grinned. “One of my friends has a bleeding hard and said that my heart was what made me special. I’m just doing my best to prove him right.”

Claus shook his head. “Save it for someone who deserves your-”

Another sparrow chirp. Claus let out a high-pitched scream before drawing ragged breaths. Ness looked him over and saw that his fingers were trembling.

“Go.” Claus made a motion to shoo Ness away. “Forget about me. Fight Porky.”

Ness glanced over his shoulder. Paula was holding up well, keeping Porky at bay with fire and axe while his mech shuffled back and forth like a crab. But she wasn’t pushing the advantage. Even with Ness helping her, they wouldn’t be able to make much progress between the two of them.

Another flash of white. More agony. Ness clenched his jaw and assessed his physical state. From fighting all around the world, he learned exactly how much his body could handle before it gave out.

And he didn’t think he could withstand another attack.

“We can’t fight him fast enough,” Ness said. “I’m not leaving you to die.”

Claus scrambled back. “Stop. Don’t look at me like I matter.”

“He’s right,” Porky said. “Forget all about broken machines, Ness. Return to the loving arms of the boy who only ever wanted to be your friend.”

Porky tapped the same button in his mech over and over again, each time letting out a sparrow’s cry. Claus fell to the floor and started writhing.

“Porky.” Ness turned back. “You are going to stop.”

More button presses. More chirps.

“What are you even _doing_ to him?”

Porky piloted his mech away from Paula as she lashed out with her axe. After the brief interruption, he resumed the button-pressing.

Ness shook his head. He should have known that any semblance of the kid next door Pokey was gone when he released the virus to the world. Or maybe this is who Pokey always wanted to be when he rose to power.

It was then that Ness understood. Whether or not Porky was misunderstood or a victim of circumstance _didn’t matter._ Claus was on the ground, thrashing in agony. Porky saw that and continued to press pain onto the poor boy.

He couldn’t open his heart to Porky without filtering out some of Claus’ suffering. And that was something he wouldn’t let himself do.

“Oh, come on,” Porky said. “Get up and fight for your master. Spankety spankety spankety.”

Amidst the sound of sparrow chirps, Ness knelt down next to Claus. When Claus looked up at him, his eyes were desperate.

“Can you concentrate on breathing?” Ness said. “One, two, three…”

Claus nodded and closed his eyes. His body tensed whenever a sparrow’s cry sounded, but he stopped writhing.

“This must be scary for you,” Ness said. “But you’re going to be all right. You’re going to be safe.”

Claus’ shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.

“Do you think you can look into my eyes?”

Claus opened his eyes and looked up at Ness. He put on a smile that turned into a grimace when a chirp sounded.

“Listen to me, Claus,” Ness said. “I can’t read your mind my looking into your eyes. But I can let you know that you’ll be okay. I can let you know that I’ll be here for you. Because I don’t ever want you to feel like you’re alone.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?” Claus let out a pained laugh. “So did she. Even while I was killing her. What did I do to deserve either of you?”

“I didn’t do anything to deserve the most wonderful friend I ever made.” Ness glanced over at Paula firing a blast of ice at Porky. “But maybe it doesn’t matter. I’m just happy to get what I need.”

Claus’ eyes hardened. The next sparrow’s call only made the corner of his mouth twitch.

Then he reached out his hand towards Ness.

Ness pulled Claus to his feet. “Do you think you can go out now?”

“No.” Claus surveyed the clones trapped in the cells. “Because I have the power to pay you back for your kindness.”

Claus took a deep breath, and when he exhaled Ness saw the pose of a warrior return. He summoned his plasma sword and lunged at Porky.

Ness ran over to help, halting when he saw Paula stumble back from an invisible attack. He ran over and caught her right as she was about to fall.

“Ugh, this is embarrassing.” She touched her arm, and her hand glowed green. “Guess you made a good choice by roping the kid into this.”

Ness watched as Claus spun his blade in wide arcs, dragging the plasma across Porky’s mech legs and glass frame. Each motion was delicate, but the strokes combined to make Claus look like a hurricane as he whirled around and left burn marks across Porky’s mech.

“Wasn’t my choice. Let’s make sure you don’t overexert yourself. I think Claus has this one for us.”

“Fuck that. Let’s finish this together.”

Paula healed Ness before leaping out of his arms and darting towards Porky. Ness shook his head and followed behind. When he was close enough to slash at Porky, Claus finished slicing off one of the mech’s legs.

“Let’s take out the other limbs so he can’t move.” Paula smirked. “I’ll enjoy what happens to him after that.”

Ness nodded and slid under Porky, years of baseball practice ensuring that the motion was smooth. The mech rotated around, but that didn’t stop Ness from singling out one of the legs and slicing at it with his blue-glass blade. Porky shuffled to the side and tried to skewer him with one of the other legs, but Ness followed his motions quickly enough to avoid being stabbed.

After hacking at the leg for a few more seconds, his blade sliced clean through and the mech started to sag. Ness somersaulted out of the way as the spider mech came crashing down. He glanced over his shoulder after rolling to see only one leg left, flailing on its own. Claus darted over and sliced it off in a single, fluid stroke.

“All together, now,” Paula said. “Let’s make this creature pay for everyone in this world he just condemned to their deaths.”

Ness ran towards Porky’s now immobile mech. He jumped onto the clear glass at the same time as Paula and Lucas. The three of them exchanged glances and nodded.

They drove their weapons into the glass at the same time. It didn’t budge.

“Keep going, if this gives you false hope,” Porky said. “Nothing you do will ever be able to hurt me.”

Ness’ arms ached as he continued to drive his blade into the glass. Paula grunted next to him, doing the same with the sharp tip of her axe. Claus took a deep breath, and then put all of his effort into one large shove.

As Claus’ plasma sword hummed against the pane, the glass started to crack. The break spread until the entire surface was covered in cracks.

The world fell silent. Ness and Paula exchanged a glance.

Then the glass shattered.

Ness fell into the cockpit of Porky’s mech, landing in fragments of glass that dug into his skin. He hopped to his feet and brushed the glimmering shards off his body, ignoring the cuts. After the pain, the next thing he noticed was a rotting stench. How did Porky live with his own putrid smell for so long?

“Oh, congratulations.” Porky brought his hands together in a slow clap. “You did what you set out to do. Now you can revel in your achievement before you all die to the virus.”

Claus narrowed his eyes, holding his beam sword in a defensive position. Porky’s mech whirred, and after a pause the lights on the buttons turned off.

“That’s it, then.” Porky shrugged. “Gloat over me while you can. After you’re gone, I’ll have the rest of time to wander the wastes of the world alone. This mech needs to recharge for a bit, but after it does I’ll be back on my feet.”

“Gloat, you say.” Paula flashed a bloodless smile. “I think you have quite a misunderstanding of what we have planned for you.”

She loomed over Porky, axe in hand. Then she twisted the ring on her finger, and the weapon vanished. She leaned closer to Porky.

“Yes,” Porky said. “Come closer. I certainly don’t mind-”

“What are you planning, Paula?” Ness tried to make eye contact with her.

She didn’t look at him. She focused her gaze on Porky, and both hands flared with fire. She glanced at her right hand, then her left, before looking back at Porky. He shrunk back into his mech seat.

“Um, Paula?” Porky said. “You’re starting to scare me.”

“Good.” She let out a laugh. “I never forgot how you were the reason those cultists nabbed me back in Twoson.”

She placed both flaming hands on Porky’s face. He started to scream.

Ness stepped over to Claus, trying to avoid wedging shards of broken glass into his shoe sole. “You don’t want to watch this. Let’s get you out of here.”

Claus’ eyes showed a sort of detached curiosity, like a scientist observing petri dishes to count bacteria colonies.

“I think I’m fine with this,” Claus said. “If you have a problem, you can bring it up with her.”

The screaming continued, and when Ness turned back to Paula he saw her raise two fingers up to Porky’s eyes. He glanced away once he saw her jab her fingers towards his face. He looked at Claus as Porky’s wails grew in volume, watching his eyes scan across Porky’s body.

“I’ve seen worse, you know,” Claus said. “Every day, one of the clones suffered more than this. You shouldn’t feel bad for him, Ness.”

Maybe he shouldn’t. But those screams…

Claus sighed. “I’ll go free those clones. We should still have some time before the virus kicks in to try and find some happiness.”

He hopped out of the mech and walked over to the cages with the clones of Ness’ mother, his shoulders hunched. Ness winced as Porky’s cries continued to grow louder.

“This is for Hinawa,” came Paula’s voice. “This is for Ness’ mother. This is for Claus. This is for Jeff.”

Ness looked back to see Paula stabbing Porky with the sharp tip of her axe. She raked the point across his face, arms, legs, stomach. None of it left blood. Ness saw her go for the eye again and closed his own. When he opened them, Porky still had both eyeballs in his sockets.

“Please, Paula.” Porky clasped his hands together. “I’ll do anything. I’ll stop the virus, if that’s what you want.”

“Nobody told you to talk.” Paula dug flaming fingers into his neck, cutting off a scream. “And I know how viruses work. It’s out of our control. And maybe you’re right. Maybe I can’t kill you. But I’ll make sure that you remember this moment for an eternity.”

“Paula,” Ness said. “I think that’s enough. He’s harmless on his own.”

“You’re making him sound like a _person._ ”

“Kumatora said that the virus was going to get out without Porky’s interference.”

“We don’t know that. This is a different universe than the one she came from, remember?” She smothered Porky’s face with a burning hand. “And even if it was going to happen sooner or later, this creature is the one who made it happen _now_. I’m just using this opportunity to take out all this anger on an object that screams.”

She spread out her fingers so that they weren’t covering Porky’s eyes, and then she leaned over with the same daycare smile that she put on for Claus.

“My parents always said that we should forgive sinners,” Paula said, her voice soft. “But they had no forgiveness for the innocent. They choose to spare the terrible and powerful, so that they can get back on their feet and hurt more people. But when someone just wants to stop pretending to be someone they aren’t,” she chuckled. “Those people don’t get any second chances. Don’t you see, Porky? Eagleland’s society was built around making sure that someone like you keeps fucking over all the people who need help the most.”

The scariest part is that Paula sounded perfectly calm as she delivered each word. She smiled with each muffled shriek.

“Paula,” Ness said. “He’s as much a victim of the system as we are. I know you didn’t see-”

“Oh, poor little Porky got _beat_ as a child, so now he’s _bitter_ and _angry._ ” Paula laughed. “That’s the excuse of someone who thinks that the world is their playground, and all the people are just toys. I know you were depressed, Ness. Did you ever even _consider_ murdering an innocent in cold blood?”

“Of course not, but-”

“Then I’m not going to give any leeway for someone who was always a nasty little rich kid who thought that he deserved everything on a silver platter. Besides, this creature is going to win in the end. He will live while we shrivel up and die. Best to make him pay for that victory, don’t you think?”

Ness fell silent. Porky’s squirms grew more and more lethargic, until eventually he stopped moving. Paula snorted and took her hand off his face. She checked his pulse and rolled her eyes.

“Still alive, unfortunately. Perhaps I should have spread out the pain a bit more.”

“You’re scaring me, Paula.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry for that, Ness. But sometimes you have to be scary in order to make your mark on the world. Porky probably doesn’t remember most people from Eagleland, but I’m sure he won’t be forgetting me anytime soon.”

“If you could have killed him,” Ness said, “Would you have given him a quick death?”

Paula hesitated. “No.”

Ness’ heart sunk into his stomach. “Paula, what are you trying to get out of making him suffer? It’s not going to help anyone.”

“Helps me.” Paula looked down at Porky’s unconscious body. “It’s not fair how Porky can just go around leaving destruction in his wake without understanding the pain he caused, you know? I feel a bit better now that I forced him to confront some sort of suffering head-on.”

Paula hopped out of the mech, and Ness followed her over to where Claus was standing. All the metal cages were sliced open, and the living clones inside were gone. Ness tried not to look too hard at the corpses.

“I think my brother is only dangerous around people who deserve it,” Claus said. “I sent them out so that they could avoid the… scene.”

Paula gritted her teeth. “Sorry.”

“Oh, I think it was a good strategy to knock Porky out with the pain, actually.” Claus frowned. “Or did you suffocate him?”

“Can we talk about something else?” Ness said.

“The point is that we can discuss what to do now that Porky’s out of the picture for a little while,” Claus said. “I can keep tabs on him to knock him out again if he wakes up.”

“It shouldn’t be possible that he’s invincible,” Paula said. “His flesh should tear just like the rest of ours. But even with my axe, I couldn’t get him to budge.”

“We’ll just have to accept it,” Claus said. “Oh, I remember Jeff told me something important.”

Ness’ heart skipped a beat. “You met Jeff?”

“Yeah. This is while I was brainwashed. I think he pretended to work for Porky long enough to run away. I’m not entirely sure where he went.”

“Apparently, Dr. Andonuts thinks that Jeff is in some sort of alternate dimension,” Ness said, “Which makes a lot more sense after what we just talked about.”

He glanced away, hoping that Claus wouldn’t figure out that Hinawa was the one to discover that information. No need to remind him.

“If that’s true, do we even want to follow him with the virus in our body?” Paula said. “Wait, there’s an obvious answer to that question. No we don’t.”

“He told me that he wanted to show you something, even if you were already infected by the virus,” Claus said.

“So he knew all this would happen.” Ness frowned. “How far into the future did he predict?”

“To be fair, I don’t think Porky is that hard to read,” Claus said.

Ness and Paula exchanged a glance. Not hard to read, yet they both failed to anticipate his plan.

“Jeff said that there should be a button on the back of the golden throne,” Claus continued. “All you have to do is push it.”

“And you’re _sure_ he wasn’t brainwashed when he was saying this?” Paula replied.

“Can’t say for sure. But I really don’t think Porky’s that clever.”

“I agree.” Paula shook her head. “But we can’t risk ending up in another dimension and dooming them as well.”

“I… trust Jeff,” Ness said. “He’s been there waiting for us, all this time. Maybe he even has a way of saving everyone infected by the virus.”

“That’s… not how viruses work, Ness.” Paula glanced at the corpses in cages. “There isn’t a great equivalent for antibiotics since viruses use our own cells to reproduce.” She glanced over at Claus. “Unless the future has developed something beyond my understanding.”

“I’m the wrong person to be asking,” Claus said, “But I should call LifeTech and ask. You two can choose on your own whether or not you want to follow Jeff’s instructions.”

He left, leaving Ness and Paula alone next to the bodies of Porky and the shriveled clones. The two of them stood in silence for what must have been minutes.

“I would have killed him too,” Ness said. “But what I saw in your eyes scares me.”

“This again?” Paula glanced over at Porky.

“He’s done horrible things, Paula. But he used to be an innocent child just like the rest of us.”

“He’s a sociopath. Always was.” She let out a deflated sigh. “I know you don’t agree, Ness. But he’s powerful enough that if his thoughts and desires start to matter, they drown out everyone else. I don’t enjoy reducing him to a subhuman… no, that’s a lie. I definitely do. But I wouldn’t do if I didn’t need to.”

“And who else is subhuman, Paula? Lucas, for almost killing his own brother?”

“Not to mention trying to kill you.” Paula shook her head. “Lucas is just misguided.”

“So what if I say the same thing about Porky?”

“The difference is that Porky is rich and powerful. He’s the one calling the shots. Lucas is an animal who becomes dangerous when he’s cornered.” She looked Ness in the eye. “And who’s cornering him?”

“Porky’s parents were abusive, Paula. He’s-”

“Jeff’s parents were never there for him. Poo’s ancestors took away his eyes and ears as part of a trial. I can show you the research if we somehow live through this mess. It’s not abusive parents that turn people evil. That comes from within.”

Paula took a deep breath and started to walk towards the throne.

“You asked who I think is subhuman. Let me give you another example. Governor Pirkle. He used to be Onett’s mayor, right?”

Ness flinched. “You’re serious?”

Paula paused and turned around, putting on a falsely sweet smile. “Takes bribes from big tobacco, oil companies, you name it. Uses his power to build pipelines and allow companies to advertise cigarettes to kids. He’s rolling in tubs of cash while people die of lung cancer and the world is being pillaged because of him. If someone roasted him over a nice warm fire, I wouldn’t complain.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme? The companies are where-”

“Oh, yes. The tobacco and oil executives should be killed as well. But Pirkle’s the one empowering them. Oh, and he’s a known sexual predator who finds ways to make the cases against him disappear.”

A chill ran down Ness’ spine. “You could have led with that.”

“It’s part of the package, Ness. He’s someone who will follow his ambitions and pleasures no matter who they hurt. A perfect hero for an Ayn Rand novel, wouldn’t you say?”

“Who?”

“Never mind. It’s not like any of this matters, with us about to shrivel up and die. I regret not killing Pirkle. I regret leaving all the human filth alive to fester and spread. All my restraint feels so pointless now that I’m staring down the barrel.”

“Killing them might have made things worse. Corpses have a way of making people angry enough to take up arms.”

“You might be right about that. Maybe Eagleland was hopeless to begin with.”

Paula walked over to the golden throne, disappearing behind its needlessly tall back. After a few moments, she popped her head out.

“I think I found the button. Now we just need to wait for-”

The door swung open behind Ness. He turned around to see Claus and Lucas walking in, side by side. Lucas kept his eyes downcast and maintained a large distance between his brother, though Claus himself appeared perfectly comfortable.

“No way to deal with the virus,” Claus said. “Unfortunately, it looks like the two of you are…” He cocked his head. “Toast? Is that the proper expression?”

“I’m sorry,” Lucas said. “If I weren’t so stupid, then-”

“Porky released the virus before we even met him,” Ness said. “Either way, we were doomed.”

“Unless Jeff was onto something,” Lucas said, looking up at Ness with steely eyes. “He told me he had a plan.”

Claus nodded. “He specified that it should be you two who went after him, whether or not you got infected by the virus.”

“I still don’t think we should risk it,” Paula said.

“Jeff wouldn’t send us to another reality if he knew we might be infected,” Ness said. “I say we should do it.”

Lucas rubbed his temples. “Someone should also check on how Poo’s doing back there.”

“Oh, fuck.” Paula tensed. “He told me he was fine fighting the geezer and Kumatora, but we should go help him.”

“I can take care of that,” Lucas said. “I think the two of you should try to find Jeff.”

Paula shook her head. “Too dangerous.”

“Please, Paula.” Lucas’ voice dropped to a whisper. “Hinawa died again fighting for the fate of this world. Don’t let her sacrifice go to waste.”

Paula furrowed her brow, and Ness knew her well enough to tell what she was thinking. She thought the wishes of the dead were worthless when compared to the living, but she wasn’t going to tell Lucas that she didn’t give a fuck about his dead mom.

“Let’s do a cost-benefit analysis,” Claus said. “Worst case scenario, you end up in another dimension and destroy two worlds instead of one. What are the chances of that, considering that Jeff knew you might be infected?”

“Unlikely,” Paula admitted.

“Then we have the neutral scenario. You go to wherever Jeff is, and there’s no miracle that lets you save the world. But it also doesn’t hurt anyone. Probability of that?”

“Probably the most likely.”

Claus nodded. “And what about the chance that someone as intelligent as Jeff figured a way to stop the virus, and needs your help to carry out his plan?”

“Less probable than the second option,” Paula said. “But maybe more likely than the first.”

“So overall, chasing after Jeff has a positive expected outcome.”

Paula hesitated before nodding slowly. “Fine. Guess we’re risking the fate of multiple realities on some kid who can’t be bothered to show up where we are.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Ness said, “I can be the one making the decision and you can blame me if it all goes downhill.”

Paula shook her head. “I’ve just… never been in charge of so many people’s well-being before.”

“I think we have,” Ness said. “The world is more complicated, and the right thing to do isn’t always clear. Back then, we were perfect for the world. I know we’re not perfect now. But I think we’re enough.”

Paula laughed. “Should have known that you would fling my encouraging bullshit right back at me.”

“Are you ready to decide the fate of the world again?” Ness said.

“I am.” Paula smiled. “But if Giygas shows up this time, I won’t be able to pray him away any more than my own sexuality.”

Ness grimaced. Thank goodness Lucas and Claus probably didn’t have the full context behind that statement.

“Let’s go together,” Paula said. “As friends.”

“As friends,” Ness agreed.

Ness held out his hand, and Paula grabbed onto it, squeezing it tight in hers. They walked alongside as the throne drew closer and closer in Ness’ vision. The feel of Paula’s tight grip, her palm touching his own… it was all familiar. But this time, there was no deep sensation within him that something was _wrong._ Instead, feeling her heartbeat through her hand, he felt closer to her than he ever had before.

Because despite their disagreements, they were friends again.

Ness and Paula rounded the back of the throne. It took Ness a couple seconds to see the button, since it was only marked by a thin outline that separated it from the rest of the gold.

“I’ll go check on how Poo is doing,” came Lucas’ voice. “If things look good, I might join you. If you… want me around, that is.”

“And I’ll keep track of Porky,” Claus said. “I think he sent out robots to attack Poo, so I can also get to work disabling those remotely.”

“Sounds good,” Ness said. “And I’m fine if you want to join us, Lucas. Just know that we have no idea about what’s on the other side.”

“And that if you turn on us a second time,” Paula said, “I’ll make sure you won’t have the opportunity to make it a third.”

Ness glanced over at her. “Paula, please.”

“I probably deserve worse than that, Ness,” Lucas said. “Thank you for giving me a second chance.”

A set of footsteps sounded, moving away from the room. Paula took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“How many times have we followed each other into the unknown at this point?” she said.

“Depends what you count. The Lost Underworld, the Cave of the Past, that hotel in Threed where we got ambushed by monsters…”

“Oh, the one where you followed a hooker into her room?”

Ness felt the heat rising in his cheeks. “I didn’t know that at the time, okay? She just looked shifty and I wanted to see if she knew anything.”

Paula squeezed his hand. “Just teasing. Though you did look pretty clueless about how she was… showing off. I was amazed at how innocent you were.”

“Can we talk about literally anything else?”

“Oh, and I can still hear you,” Claus said from the other side of the throne.

Paula laughed. “Ready to jump into the unknown one last time, Ness?”

“If I’m with you? Always.”

Ness and Paula met each other’s gazes. Nodded.

Then they reached out and pushed the button at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're all doing well! Believe it or not, I got the idea of a virus apocalypse long before we knew about COVID. I'm not trying to say that COVID was released on purpose or anything like this virus was or anything like that.
> 
> Notes:  
> -In Onett, you can find a hamburger (healing item) in a trash can that Ness will add to his inventory. Him talking about Onett’s trash cans in the flashback is a reference to this.  
> -Porky’s comment about Ness’ mother is identical to what Porky says to her after banging on Ness’ door and being let into the house at the start of Earthbound  
> -Porky’s attack not having a visible form, with the line “What did Porky do?” is a reference to the Porky boss fight in Mother 3, in which the same line plays whenever he attacks and it’s not explained how he deals damage  
> -The “spankety spankety spankety!” is also a line that Porky uses in Mother 3  
> -In Earthbound, cultists are planning to use Paula as a sacrifice, and Porky works with them. Paula’s line about him being responsible for her kidnapping reflects this.   
> -Paula mentions Ayn Rand, who is an intellectual/author who espouses the idea of “objectivism,” which basically says that people should always act in accordance to her own selfishness and shouldn’t care about how they affect anyone else (like how Porky acts). Thus, the heroes of her novels are often rapists, arsonists, ect. Despite this (or maybe because of it?), her ideas are still relevant in some US conservative/Republican circles, including many congresspeople. Earthbound refers to real-life people like Einstein, so I thought some political "thinkers" would also be appropriate.   
> -In Threed, Ness and the party follow a woman into her hotel room, where they are ambushed by monsters. She doesn’t have any lines, but some fans picture her as a prostitute.


	14. Her Final Regret

**One year ago:**

Ness decided that the safest way to ensure that nobody saw his suicide notes was to eat them.

He wanted to use the paper shredder in the house? His mother or Tracy might wonder why. He took a single step outside to dump them in the garbage? A news reporter might be there to shove a microphone in his face. Normally he would teleport away to somewhere nobody could see him, but his PSI didn’t seem to be working right now and there was no use sitting around panicking until it did.

And, as he found by tearing off bits of his note to Paula and shoving them into his mouth, paper didn’t taste as bad as he was expecting. He was able to force down the first sheet of paper in a couple of minutes, letting his saliva break down enough of the wood pulp that it didn’t feel like shoving a sheet of paper down his throat.

He moved onto the note to Tracy next. He opened the letter and pulled out the note. He unfolded it so that he could tear off bits from a single sheet, and his eyes wandered to the words at the top of the letter.

_Tracy,_

_Sorry to go so soon._

_You’re going to make a great businesswoman someday. Find the best way to optimize deliveries and make everyone’s lives just a bit more convenient. Or you’ll find something else that calls to you. Either way, I’ll have faith that you’ll end up happy and comfortable. I have just one thing to ask of you._

_Don’t be a hero. Don’t end up like me._

_-Ness_

He set the paper face-down on his dresser, turning away and forcing himself to take deep breaths. If he died, would reading that note just make her feel worse?

After a few minutes, he was ready to leave it behind him. He tore paper off the letter piece by piece and stuffed them into his mouth. Not quite as good as burgers from a trash can, but what was?

Ness smiled at his own internal joke. Nobody else was going to. After forcing the second piece of paper down, he went to the third letter, which had the word “Mom” scrawled across the front.

He opened it, and decided to read it over. Might as well go all the way now that he reminded himself of what he wanted to tell Paula and Tracy.

_Mom,_

_I wanted to grow up and be a thoughtful, strong boy, just like you wanted._

_I failed._

_I tried and tried to be strong but it’s just too hard. How do you do it, mom? How does anyone do it? This world is so dark and cold and it’s pressing on my chest until I feel like I can’t breathe… the hopelessness reminds me of what it was like to face Giygas. But there’s nobody to fight this time. I tried praying like Paula did, but I can’t be her. Maybe I was never a hero after all._

_But if I can’t be strong, I at least wanted to be thoughtful. So I wanted to say thank you. You know… I saw the moment where you and dad named me while I was rocking away in a crib. Where you and him put that red baseball cap on me for the first time, and talked about how you hoped King wouldn’t be jealous. I couldn’t see your face, but I could hear how much you loved me in your voice. And I love you too. The only reason I stayed around this long was because of you. So please don’t think that I didn’t consider how you and Tracy would feel. Oh, and dad too. Because I agonized over it for nights on end, staring out at the stars, telling myself that you would be heartbroken if I joined them. In the end, it wasn’t my empathy that failed. It was my resolve._

_I know I’m not a strong boy, but I hope in your eyes I was still a thoughtful one. If you still see me that way… well, that would mean a lot to me. But I suppose it’s out of my hands now, isn’t it?_

_I’m sorry, mom. So so sorry._

_Love,_

_Ness_

Ness’ hands shook as he read the last part. He set the letter down and tore off the first piece, popping it into his mouth.

He heard a knock on his door.

#

**~~209X~~ **

**????:**

Ness stood on a cliff overlooking an eternity of grey fog. He glanced around to take stock of his surroundings. More cliffs, more grey, more hazy background.

No Paula.

Ness gritted his teeth. This looked the same as the Cave of the Past the last time he visited, without all the starmen and the UFOs. No friends and no enemies resulted in a cave that was eerily silent.

Ness wandered through the pathways, trying to figure out where he was and remember the quickest path to Giygas. After a few minutes of searching, he concluded that the layout was different than the last time he came here.

So same cave with a twist, or a different dimension altogether? Ness supposed that it didn’t matter, but continued pondering the thought as he wandered through the grey cliffs.

After what felt like an eternity, he heard metal clanking behind him. He whirled around and summoned his sword to see a blocky robot waddling forward, its body and face mechanically blank.

“I’m happy to finally see you again, Ness,” the robot said. “Even though I wish we could have seen each other in different circumstances.”

“That voice…” Ness lowered his blade. “Jeff?”

“Correct.” The robot examined its arms. “Or what’s left of Jeff, anyway.”

Ness deactivated his blade, running forward and embracing the robot. He didn’t care about the feeling of cold metal on his arms and cheek.

Jeff was back.

“Uh, I wasn’t expecting this.” The robot wrapped its metal arms around Ness.

“Okay, okay, I’ll let you go.”

Ness laughed after releasing the robot, the sound echoing in the distance. Jeff was _back._

“Err…” the robot whirred. “I do not wish to interrupt your moment of jubilation, but-”

“Yeah.” Ness felt his shoulders sink. “You’re dead, aren’t you?”

“Unfortunately so.”

“But,” Ness perked up. “Your spirit is still here in this machine, right? So once we make it out of here, we can fix things.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up. I don’t actually have much energy left, and I’m afraid we have to get down to business.”

“Ugh,” Ness said. “I’m ready for the getting down part.”

He sat down on the ground and stretched out his legs, leaning back and bracing himself with his arms. The robot looked down at him. It couldn’t make expressions, but Ness interpreted Jeff’s look as one of amusement.

“Glad to see you’ve picked up a bit of your old self,” Jeff said.

“Eh.” Ness coughed into a fist. “Those moments don’t come often.”

“All the more reason I’m glad to see it now. How much do you know about what this place is, Ness?”

“Wait, we don’t have time to talk about this.” Ness sat up straight, crisscrossing his legs. “We need to know if you-”

“Have a way of stopping the virus.” Jeff released a mechanical sigh. “I do, but you’re not going to like it.”

“Damn.” Ness cocked his head. “You planned for everything, huh?”

“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, actually. Let us start with some background. You recognize this as the Cave of the Past, yes?”

“But it’s not in the past, right? Poo told me Giygas came from some alternate dimension.”

“Brings new meaning to the world ‘alien,’ doesn’t it?” A pause. “Yes. In fact, Giygas’ presence is close to the world we came from. Even closer than other realities with PSI.”

“Right. Giygas only exists in some abstract PSI plane or something. Which is where we are?”

“As far as I can tell, Giygas _is_ PSI.”

Ness raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to need to explain that for someone stupid like me.”

“For the last time, you’re not-” Jeff sighed. “All life is just chemical reactions, right? Energy being released at different times and between different compounds to do different things.”

“Uh, sure.”

“Giygas is similar. Just an entity that takes precise actions like a living creature and runs off PSI energy instead of ATP from sugar and fat. The aggregate of all the PSI energy seems to be contained within the entity we know as Giygas, and Giygas does not expand beyond those bounds. Therefore, Giygas and PSI are tightly linked, and are possibly the same.”

“Okay, maybe I didn’t want an explanation. Sure, Giygas is PSI. Does this matter?”

The robot nodded. “Because if you can use PSI, you can wield the power of Giygas. Porky already learned how to weaponize Giygas.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Ness frowned. “He hit us with attacks that we couldn’t comprehend, just like Giygas did.”

“And like LifeTech before him.”

“It… did?”

“The virus, Ness.” Jeff’s voice grew soft. “It’s not a virus in the traditional sense. It spreads like one, yes. Uses our cells for replication instead of its own machinery, yes. But it is not coded for in DNA or RNA. The matter that makes up the virus comes from Giygas.”

“That’s awful.”

“Actually, it’s great news.”

Ness perked up. “How so?”

“It’s difficult to thwart a virus once it gets into your system. But there are things we can do to Gigyas.”

A grin spread across Ness’ face. “We can just kick his ass again.”

The robot hesitated. “Not exactly. I’m afraid things will be more difficult this time around.”

Ness crossed his arms. “Okay, how can anything be _more_ difficult than fighting Giygas?”

“Not challenging in the traditional sense, but…” Jeff sighed. “If we defeat Giygas, it will retreat further away from this world, just like the first time. The virus will still be there.”

“All right.” Ness swallowed. “But there is a way to get the virus away from the world we were just in?”

“There is. But there’s a catch. It requires a sacrifice of sorts.”

Ness looked the robot in its eyes. “You can tell me. I’m ready to handle it.”

The robot fidgeted with its fingers. “PSI is the power of Giygas, yes? There’s a special PSI technique I discovered that Giygas uses to recall bits of his matter to himself from another dimension. But if you or Paula use it, you can draw the matter from the viruses into you. I’ll have to teach it to you. We should go to Paula and-”

“Please tell me you didn’t find her and teach it to her already.”

The robot hesitated. “I did, but she promised to wait for you so that the two of you could decide who it was going to be. I should mention that the person who recalls Giygas’ matter will most likely _become_ Giygas, at least in part. I anticipate that they will want to conquer the multiverse just like he does. I am a terrible friend for doing this, but the reason I wanted to make sure both of you were present was so-”

“Was so one of us could become Giygas, and the other one could kill the person who did.”

The robot’s gaze wavered. “I spent months thinking of other possibilities. I promise you, Ness. If there were any other way to save the world I would have done that instead.”

“We need to go to Paula now. Where is she?”

The robot blinked, metal eyelids shutting over black pupils for a moment. “Follow me.”

Ness followed the robot as it shuffled off, repeating one question in his mind.

Why didn’t Paula tell Jeff that Ness lost his PSI powers and couldn’t use the same technique he taught her?

#

“Oh dear,” Jeff said at an arbitrary point along the grey cliffs. “Did you anticipate that Paula might have run off?”

“Did she have a reason for not wanting to stay close while you were searching for me?” Ness said.

The robot nodded. “She said that she wanted to attain focus for optimal PSI use since this place was creeping her out, and that she couldn’t do so while walking.”

“Fuck.” Ness glanced out into the silvery fog. “ _Fuck_.”

“Do you think she…” the robot turned to look over at Ness. “Out of all my plans, this was the one thing I didn’t account for.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Ness said through gritted teeth. “I can’t use PSI.”

The robot jerked its head towards Ness. “I’ve never heard that happen to anyone. But I suppose there’s no way you could make a mistake about something like that.”

“So I’m a first at something.” Ness sighed. “Yippee.”

“We should head over to where Giygas is,” Jeff said. “The PSI ability I taught Paula will only work there, because that’s where Giygas’ PSI energy is strongest. Either we’ll find her there or she’ll have to pass through us. Come on.”

The robot waddled off again at a speed comparable to a human run, and Ness jogged to keep up. He was panting by the time that he and the robot arrived at a familiar crack in a wall of rock that led into a cavern.

“It feels wrong for this world to still be the same after so much changed for us,” Ness said. “Do you think Paula found this place on her own?”

The robot whirred. “She’s too smart for her own good, sometimes. Would you mind going in to check? Gigyas’ energy is probably strong enough to drain what little charge I have left if I step inside, so I’ll wait out here and watch for her.”

“How long can I survive in there, then?”

“A couple hours that close to Giygas, maybe. Out here, more like a day. A PSI-user might be able to last longer.”

“Well, things have already gone to hell if I’m in there for that long. Wish me luck, Jeff.”

“I…” the robot nodded. “I will not last long, but I hope to see you one last time after you save the world again. I hope all goes well for you, Ness. And I’m sorry.”

Ness shook his head. “You did your best, Jeff. That’s all we can ask for. I’ll pop in and be right out.”

Ness hesitated. If Paula was in there, what would he do? If Paula _wasn’t_ in there, would it matter?

He took a deep breath. Lingering on doubts would only slow him down. Before his brain could talk his body out of it, he rushed through the opening in the stone wall.

For a moment, there was only black.

Then he emerged on a wavy pathway with ground made up of a dull pink material, split into a half-dozen strands. Thank goodness they were firm to the touch when he walked on them, because otherwise it would have felt like walking over a bunch of intestines.

Blegh.

Ness looked over in the distance, and what he saw made the last of his doubts vanish. Up a staircase where the pink strands converged sat a large white ball with veins imprinted into it. On its own, it looked creepy but otherwise unremarkable.

Ness knew that being as Giygas.

It was different being alone as he walked along the path up to Giygas. The room was silent save for his footsteps and breathing, so still that it was agonizing. It made a library sound like a parade.

What chance did he even stand when Giygas was involved? All the strength that twelve year-old him drew from the Sound Stone and his friends was replaced by loneliness and a coldness in his chest as the years passed. What didn’t kill Ness was supposed to make him stronger, but it seemed like he just got closer and closer to collapsing.

And even if he did have it in his heart to face down Giygas a second time, he was going to face down a creature that wore Paula’s face. What was he worth without her by his side?

A searing headache tore through his mind. Ness let out a whimper and put pressure on his temples.

_Ness…_

By the time the pain faded, he was panting in a cold sweat. He rubbed his arms even though he wasn’t chilly and continued walking forward.

This realm must be more hospitable than the one where Ness originally encountered Giygas if his physical body could survive here, but perhaps there were other reasons to wear skin made out of metal instead of flesh.

Ness made it to the white sphere at the end of the walkway without encountering Paula. He closed his eyes and focused on hearing to see if he could make out the sound of her breathing nearby. Nothing.

When he opened his eyes, he saw his own face in the white orb, staring back at him.

 _“This is where it all began.”_ An image of the Sea of Eden from Magicant popped into his mind. _“Even after all these years, I still think of this place as home. Beautiful, isn’t it?”_

“Where is that voice coming from?” Ness said.

And why did it sound so familiar?

_“You know who I am, Ness. I’ve been with you all this time.”_

The reflection of Ness’ face smiled.

Then the sphere started to vanish into white specks that floated off into the darkness.

“Uh, Giygas?” Ness took a step back. “What’s going on here?”

The white sphere finished disintegrating, revealing Paula with her teeth gritted and eyes closed. She was on one knee, both hands gripping an axe that was stabbed into the ground. Glistening black armor covered her body up to her neck, glowing a dull purple. She wore a cloak that was as dark as the night and was dotted with white lights like stars in the sky. Her axe was black and covered with red swirls in the pattern of Giygas.

Paula yanked her axe out of the ground and started floating until her feet were as high as Ness’ waist. She opened her eyes and a red light shone from each one, drowning out her irises and pupils.

In that moment, Ness realized that he was too late.

“I regret many things in my life,” Paula said. “But most of all, I’m sorry that you have to kill me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have forgotten about this story until I got a comment on it. Whoops. 
> 
> Notes:  
> -Tracy works at the Escargo Express, which specializes in deliveries. I built on that idea for Ness’ letter to Tracy.  
> -Ness’ mother often says that she wants him to grow up into a strong, thoughtful boy. Ness addresses this in his letter to his mother.   
> -The robot with Jeff’s consciousness in it resembles the robots that Ness and friends needed to place their spirits in to fight Giygas in Earthbound.


	15. Giygas

**One Year Ago:**

Ness froze until he heard the next round of knocking on his door.

“Ness, are you in there?” came his mother’s voice.

“Yeah.” Shit shit _shit_ where could he hide the last suicide note? “Just give me a sec to get dressed.”

Ness went over to his dresser and stuffed the letter under a pile of unfolded shirts in one of the drawers. It wasn’t going to help his anxiety, but unless he kept glancing over his mother would have no logical reason to dig through his dresser.

He took a deep breath and held two fingers up to the side of his neck to take his own pulse, which was going at 150 beats per minute. He was probably going to get a heart attack in his thirties, if he managed to survive that long.

Years of dating Paula taught him to shove it all down. He put on his best smile, walked up, and swung the door open. His mother eyed him, concern written across her face.

“Is it all right if I come in?”

Oh no. Ness forced the panic back down. Of course he had nothing to hide, _especially_ in the shirt drawer of his dresser.

“Sure.”

He walked over and plopped down on his bed, and his mother followed him and sat down next to him. There was something about the way that her weight made the bed sag to his left that made him want to lean into her and never let go. Ness’ mother hunched her shoulders like Ness, seeing below the rim of his baseball cap and looking into his eyes.

“I’m sure there are a lot of emotions going through you right now,” she said. “Do you want to talk about anything? It might not seem like it, but what you’re feeling is normal.”

Ness stiffened before realizing that she was talking about his breakup with Paula. He wondered if she would still think that his emotions were normal if he told her that he finally felt free for the first time in years.

“I just wonder if I’ll ever find the right person,” Ness said. “Paula was supposed to be perfect for me. Should have been perfect for me. Was perfect for me. And it still wasn’t enough.”

“You know, my first breakup was with someone who should have been perfect,” his mom said.

Ness perked up. “I didn’t know you dated someone other than dad.”

She laughed. “Oh, I thought you would find it awkward. And I don’t know if your father would approve of me talking _too_ much about it. But I think it’s important for you to know.”

“I’m listening.”

#

**~~209X~~ **

**????:**

Paula swooped down, gritting her teeth in pain as she swung her axe at Ness. He managed to summon his sword in time to parry, and his sword locked with the dark edges of her axe. He looked up into her glowing red eyes as she pressed her weapon forward, floating closer and closer to Ness.

“I’m not going to kill you, Paula,” Ness said.

“Think of someone with the power of Giygas and the planning of a human. You’ll be letting that ravage the multiverse.”

She floated back before lunging at Ness again. He rolled to the side as she flew past him, glancing over his shoulder to see her star-covered cape billowing in wind that wasn’t there as she floated behind him.

“And I can only hold back his darkest power for so long,” Paula said. “Look at what Giygas is already making me do.”

She descended to the ground and threw her axe at Ness. A split second of surprise prevented him from ducking out of the way, and the weapon slammed into his side. His vision flashed red, and he stumbled back to see the axe flying back into Paula’s hand. She took slow steps towards him, the sound of her panting echoing in the background.

“Giygas is controlling your arms and legs,” Ness said. “But your mouth and mind are your own. That means there’s still hope.”

Paula walked closer. “Don’t you dare risk it all for my puny little life.”

“I believe in you, Paula.”

She lunged at him, each stroke in her flurry of blows marked by a moment of hesitation beforehand. Even with the repose before each flick of her wrist, her attacks were swift enough that she landed two blows before he darted away. Ness smiled to himself. Even her Giygas-controlled limbs didn’t want to kill him.

“I should be the one apologizing, Paula,” Ness said. “If I could use PSI, I would have taken the fall for both of us.”

“I know.” Paula squeezed her eyes shut, the red glow fading. “That’s why I rushed. I needed to get here first, just in case Jeff could reawaken your powers.”

She lashed out at him with a one-handed stroke. Ness dug in his heels and braced himself against the weight of the attack. When blade locked with sword, she leaned in and opened her eyes, meeting his gaze with balls of glowing red in her sockets.

“I could never make myself kill you, Ness.”

Ness tightened his muscles and pushed against Paula’s axe with his blade. She floated back out of his reach and drew shaky breaths.

“And what makes you think that I could kill you?” Ness said.

“I’m grateful that you tried to love me, Ness. But we both know that you couldn’t bring up those feelings for someone like me.”

“Someone like…” Ness brandished his sword. “You have it all wrong. And why would it be easier for me to kill you, just because I didn’t want to date you?”

Paula cocked her head, frowning as she lashed out with another set of axe slices. A stroke caught Ness in the leg, and he rammed his shoulder into Paula’s chest to knock her back. He tried to shove down his guilt after she grunted.

“You admitted that you don’t love me, Ness.” Paula looked down at the floor. “It’s okay. You can forget all about me and move onto someone who’s better for you. I think I knew deep down that this would always happen.”

Without looking at him, Paula’s arm lashed out and threw the axe at Ness. He was ready this time, and leapt to the side as it swung around him and landed back in her hand.

“It shouldn’t be this way,” Ness said. “I was supposed to be the broken one that you left behind.”

“Just kill me.” Her voice was weak. “Please.”

“I… can try to fight you for a bit and see if I can knock Giygas out of you without hurting you. How does that sound?”

Paula gulped. Nodded. “If that makes you feel better, than sure.”

Ness took a deep breath. Maybe if he could get the darkness out of her, she could leave these thoughts behind and be happy again.

Or had her smile always been an illusion?

No time to stop and think. Ness lunged forward and focused on Paula’s red eyes as he slashed at her. Her swings were even faster and more precise than Lucas’, reminding Ness of how Claus moved like a dancer in fights while brainwashed. She would be strong enough to crush him within seconds if Giygas controlled her entirely. Probably faster, if she used PSI.

But Ness landed more attacks than he received. Paula faltered before each time she swung at him. Sometimes her entire body trembled, the axe jittery in her hands right until it was in motion towards Ness’ neck.

“I fought a duel like this with Lucas,” Ness said, pressing the attack. “Blade against blade, no PSI. I was prepared to kill him to save the world.”

“And you won’t do that for me.” Paula’s axe grazed by his forehead. “Why am I different, Ness?”

“Because I can see your pain.”

The words sounded stupid as soon as they came out of his mouth. A life was a life. Lucas’ death would be just as painful as Paula’s. But the way he kept his posture steady and talked to Ness in an even voice about his ideals made it different.

But what was honor, against a dagger in the dark?

What was honor, when an entire world was about to come crashing down?

What was honor, when the price for saving that world was his blade digging into flesh as his best friend in life slumped over?

“If it made your task easier for you to bear, I’d give into Giygas,” Paula said. “But then he’d just kill you and move on, wouldn’t he?”

Ness unleashed another flurry of strokes, driving Paula back.

“If I kill you, I should look death in the eye,” Ness said. “You deserve that much.”

The words sounded hollow in his ears. Dead was dead. And if the church was to be believed, she would end up burning in the flames of hell for the way she was born.

“You can look away when you do it.” Paula’s soft voice was interrupted by a swing of her axe drawing a thin line of pain as it glanced off his leg. “I don’t want to haunt you, Ness. I only ever wanted you to be happy.”

When Paula went stumbling back from Ness’ next slash, she shrunk back like a beaten child. The look on her face reminded Ness of his own expression in the mirror.

“I don’t think this changes much for me,” Paula said. “Go home to your mom and sister, Ness. Nobody besides you will miss me.”

Ness lowered his blade. “That’s not true. All the people we helped-”

“They hate me.” Paula’s lip curled up into a sneer. “Once they figured out who I was, they tossed me aside and propped up some _other_ girl who they can project their values onto. I don’t know who she is, or if each person has their own little symbol of joy that they prune the personality out of. I don’t care.”

She swung her axe at Ness in a wide arc. He leapt back, and after Paula recovered from the recoil she started drawing shallow breaths in rapid succession.

“I told myself that I didn’t care what they thought,” Paula said. “That it didn’t matter if the entire world wanted to watch me burn at the stake. But it does.”

“You said things were going to get better,” Ness replied. “We just need to hold out until that happens.”

“I don’t think I can make it that long.”

She leapt into the air and swooped towards Ness. He stepped back as she slowed to a halt in the air. He parried her attacks before driving her back with some of his own. Paula glanced down at the cuts on her arms beneath cracked armor and smiled.

“Good. Don’t hold back, Ness. Be the hero the world always needed you to be.”

Ness growled, a sound so deep and guttural that it surprised even him. Maybe Paula was right, and being a hero just meant killing people who got caught in the crossfire while people like Porky were untouchable.

“Think about a Giygas with the knowledge of a human,” Paula said. “Think about how much he would take. Weigh my life against that desolation, Ness. Finish your task here. You were always destined for something great.”

“We both were,” Ness said, “And look at us now. Do you think the Apple of Enlightenment predicted this?”

Paula didn’t hesitate before floating to the ground and running at Ness, holding her axe at her side. Ness met her charge and used every moment she hesitated to drag his blade across her body. He gritted his teeth as she winced, bit his lip as she stumbled back, and lowered his blade as she felt to one knee. She drove her axe into the ground and held onto it with both hands, looking just as frail as when she first appeared to him in Giygas’ domain.

“I’m sorry,” Ness said. “Are you okay?”

Paula squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, the red glow in her eyes was gone. Ness stepped up to her, and she glanced up at him. Her face was tight with pain.

“Thank you for taking me on the adventure of my dreams, Ness. Sorry to go so soon.”

“Don’t talk like that. We can still get you out of here together.”

“I can feel it creeping up.” Paula winced. “Do it now, Ness. Don’t think twice.”

Ness glanced down at his sword.

“Please.”

He looked her in the eyes. He raised his sword above her head.

“Hurry. Giygas is-” Paula made a gagging noise.

Ness hesitated.

The next moment, pain blinded his vision. By the time his senses returned, he saw that he was in a background of black with red patterns pulsating. The same noises played that haunted his dreams night after night.

Giygas, his form unknowable.

“What did you do with Paula?”

“SHE’S RIGHT HERE.”

Paula emerged from the background, the red glow in her eyes returning. Her armor remained, but the cape and axe were gone as she floated in the distance. With the abstract background, Ness couldn’t tell how far away she was from him. Did space even work the same way in here?

“YOU WERE TOO LATE.”

The voice came from Paula’s lips, but it was not hers. Her expression twisted into a smirk that was too wide for human anatomy, making her look like an uncanny puppet.

“You let go of her this moment or I’m going to-”

“OR YOU’RE GOING TO DO WHAT?”

A burst of pain sent Ness down to his hands and knees. The cuts Paula gave him from their fight burned again with searing agony. Ness opened his mouth to scream, but no words came out.

Weak. Helpless.

Alone.

Ness waded through the sea of pain in his mind and latched onto one idea. It was a long shot, but hey. He won worse bets before where Giygas was concerned.

He rose to his knees and started to pray from the bottom of his heart.

“Please give us strength, if it’s possible.” Ness closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. “Please.”

Another attack from Giygas. Ness flinched.

“Please give us strength. Anyone who can hear our plea, help us…”

Nothing.

“Speed this prayer to all the people of the Earth…”

More pain. Ness took ragged breaths.

“Please. I know you’re out there. Somebody must hear our suffering.”

“YOU ARE A FOOL, NESS.”

He opened his eyes. Paula floated in front of him, dark veins running up her face.

“NOBODY IS GOING TO HEAR YOU. EVEN GOD HAS FORSAKEN YOU.”

Ness rose to his feet, brandishing his blade. “That’s not true. The people of this world just need a bit of time to know who we are.”

“OH, YOU WEREN’T CALLING TO THE PEOPLE OF THE FUTURE WORLD, NESS.” Paula grinned. “YOU ARE BETWEEN UNIVERSES. I COULD FEEL YOUR MESSAGE GOING BACK TO YOUR HOME WORLD.”

Ness said nothing, focusing his effort on staying upright amidst the pain and swirling background.

“BUT NOBODY LISTENED THIS TIME.” Paula chuckled. “ISN’T THAT A SHAME, NESS? THE PEOPLE YOU TRUSTED SO MUCH NEVER REALLY CARED ABOUT EITHER OF YOU IN THE END.”

A flash of white blinded Ness. For a moment, he saw a still image of his mother and Tracy in the living room at night, praying while King had his mouth open in the middle of a bark. When the moment faded, he saw Paula jerk back.

“I WAS NOT EXPECTING THERE TO BE SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTOOD YOU, NESS. BUT HER EFFORTS ARE FUTILE, IF THE REST OF THE WORLD CONTINUES TO IGNORE YOU.”

Someone who… understood him? Giygas couldn’t have known about the conversation with his mom after his breakup with Paula, right? Ness gritted his teeth as Paula continued to float out of reach.

She raised her hands up to the sky, her posture similar to a medieval painting of a saint in worship. Pain blurred Ness’ vision, and his legs started to quiver. Sometimes, understanding the extent of his body’s limits was a curse.

Because now he knew that he couldn’t take another attack.

“GO AHEAD AND CRY, NESS. GO AHEAD AND SCREAM. NOW THAT YOUR PEOPLE CLOSED THEIR EARS TO YOU, I’LL BE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN JUDGE.”

Paula raised her hands to the sky again. He remembered her words to him in the skyscraper after they defeated Porky. God could forgive the guilty, but there was only apathy for the innocent people struggling alone.

“I’m sorry, Paula,” Ness said. “You were right, as usual. I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

Paula hesitated. A cool sensation washed over Ness, and his cuts faded.

“Paula, did you…?”

“Other direction,” came a voice behind him.

Lucas stepped up to Ness’ side, his orange plasma sword humming next to him. He cast a sidelong smirk at Ness.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting,” Lucas said. “Are we even now?”

Ness nodded. No time to waste breath with pleasantries or questions.

“OH, LOOK.” Paula glanced down at Lucas. “ANOTHER LITTLE CHILD WHOSE WORLD ABANDONED HIM.”

“Seeing the people I grew up with betray everything we stood for hurt,” Lucas said. “But none of that mattered when I realized the people who loved me most were always there.”

Paula thrust her hand forward. Ness yelped in pain, but Lucas only twitched.

“This is for you, mother,” Lucas said. “PK Love Ω.”

A burst of energy radiated out from Lucas, sparkling rainbow colors. An array of shimmering hexagons appeared over Paula, shattering and sending her falling back. She landed on the invisible ground, and snarled as she hopped to her feet.

“YOU COULDN’T KILL ME WITH PSI AND THREE ALLIES LAST TIME, NESS.” Paula sneered. “WHAT MAKES YOU THINK NOW WILL BE ANY DIFFERENT?”

Giygas was probably right, but he had nothing to lose at this point. Ness lunged towards Paula, seeing the glow of Lucas’ plasma sword out the corner of his eye. He sliced at her, and she grabbed his glass blade with an armored hand, sending cracks through the clear surface of his sword. Lucas darted around to flank Paula and rammed his plasma sword into her back. She grunted and released a burst of energy that sent Ness and Lucas flying back.

Good to know that most of her body was vulnerable while her hands and arms were armored enough to stop his blade. Ness ran back at her, seeing Lucas dart forward with the same speed. Blows glanced off the plating on her arms before both Ness and Lucas managed to push their advantage and cut at her legs and torso. After they landed a few attacks, another burst of energy threw them backwards. Paula’s movements were impossibly fast, too slick to be human, but she wavered before each parry. And during that hesitation, Ness could see her fingers tremble.

Lucas healed them both whenever they started to run low on strength. But they couldn’t last forever, and Ness knew that he and Lucas stood no chance of killing Giygas himself. The most they could hope for was killing Paula so that Giygas couldn’t use her human cognition to form a more coherent plan for taking over the multiverse.

Was that really a victory?

With each time Ness and Lucas picked themselves off the ground to run at Paula, she hesitated more and more. Then she started to shrink back into herself. And eventually, she clutched her head after blasting Ness and Lucas back.

“STOP RESISTING, CHILD.” Paula’s face winced. “THE FUTURE IS… INEVITABLE.”

“You don’t sound so sure about that,” Lucas said, smirking. “And I’m sure Ness could tell you that resisting is what I do to a fault.”

Ness lowered his blade. Did Giygas really mean him and Lucas, or did he mean…

Ness saw Lucas charging at Paula, and burst into a sprint to keep up. He swung first at Paula, and she looked over to block the attack with her arm plating. As Ness’ blade glanced off her dark armor, he saw Lucas ready his plasma sword with fire in his eyes. Paula’s body was scratched and cut up to the point that Ness wondered if she could take another blow.

Ness considered yelling a warning. He paused.

Lucas’ plasma sword drove right through Paula’s side, its tip popping out the other side. Lucas gasped and stumbled back, letting go of his blade.

“Paula… mom…” his voice quivered. “I didn’t mean to…”

Paula glanced at the little beam of orange plasma sticking out of her side. Then laughed.

“THANK YOU, CHILD.” She glanced over at Lucas. “FOR QUIETING HER PESKY LITTLE VOICE. AH, WHAT A NICE VESSEL SHE IS WITHOUT ALL THAT BLEATING.”

Lucas opened his mouth. Paula shoved a hand at him and his body went still from the neck down, leaving him to grunt and look down at his body without moving his head. Then she turned to Ness.

“IT WAS… IMPRESSIVE, WHAT YOU DID THE FIRST TIME WE MET. IT IS A SHAME THAT I WILL HAVE TO KILL YOU.”

“Give Paula back.” Ness brandished his blade.

“I WONDER IF SHE IS HAPPIER NOW, CONSUMED BY THE DARKNESS.” She examined her armor-covered hand. “POOR LITTLE CHILD. NO PLACE FOR HER IN THE WORLD SHE CAME FROM.”

“Go on, Ness,” Lucas said, his body stiff. “I’m sorry for faltering. Don’t back down now, you hear me?”

Ness narrowed his eyes at Paula. He and Lucas were both prepared to kill a friend to shape the world how they wanted to. Maybe this shouldn’t feel different.

“I WISHED TO LEARN FROM YOUR POWER.” Paula smiled at Ness. “BUT IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ONLY WEAKENED IN YOUR AGE. I ALWAYS FORGET THAT YOU HUMANS DO THAT.”

But Ness’ grand duel with Lucas only resulted in Hinawa’s death. There was still a thrill in standing at the top of the world, looking down and knowing that all the people were depending on him.

Was that the only reason he enjoyed his fight with Lucas? Because he could be a hero again?

“GO ON, CHILD.” Paula extended a hand. “TRY YOUR HEART OUT TO KILL THIS PERSON WHO MEANS SO MUCH FOR YOU.”

“You heard him,” Lucas said, his arms twitching while the rest of his body remained paralyzed. “I know you wouldn’t run away knowing that people would be hurt by what you left behind.”

People would suffer if he let her go, but she would suffer if he struck her down here. This was death, wasn’t it? Brutal and bloody.

Maybe Ness didn’t want to be a hero. Maybe he didn’t want to return to the world with thunderous applause to greet him.

Maybe he just wanted to hold his best friend close and never let go.

“Ness?” Lucas frowned. “What are you waiting for?”

Ness turned the knob on his glass ring and deactivated his glass sword. Paula furrowed her brow as Ness stepped up to her.

“Listen,” Ness said. “I know you’re in there. And I’m sorry for what we did to you. I know you told me to kill you, but there has to be another way.”

“I SEE.” Paula’s toothy grin returned. “YOU ARE EVEN MORE FOOLISH THAN I EXPECTED.”

“I should have told you this before, when I was talking about my past,” Ness said, “But I think I know why you feel like you don’t belong in our world. Because I’ve felt that too.”

Paula extended a hand towards Ness. A flash of pain sent him falling to his knees. He let out a high-pitched scream, then smiled to himself. So nice not to be a hero anymore.

“I know they hate you for being true to yourself,” Ness said. “My burden is different, but I guess a hundred pounds of iron feels the same as a hundred pounds of stone. What am I going to do when I become an adult, Paula? When the rest of you move on from foolish childhood friendships and enter love that everyone says is deeper than what I’m capable of feeling? What am I supposed to do when I’m alone in my bed at night, and the stars call me to join them in the sky?”

Paula pulled Lucas’ plasma sword out of her side. She held it above Ness’ head, hesitating.

“You know,” Ness said. “Ever since we started dating, I fantasized dying for you. I guess I couldn’t see a life for myself where I would be happy, either with you or alone. But I wanted to make a difference. I wanted my best friend to know a life of joy. So I wanted… with my last breath… to push you out of the darkness.”

Paula’s face hardened. She leapt up and kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling on his back. After the pain faded from his vision, Ness looked up to see Paula standing over him, legs straddling his waist as she held her sword in a reverse grip, pointing it down at his chest.

“Were you thinking the same thing when you used the PSI that Jeff taught you and took a part of Giygas into your own body?” Ness said. “Did you wonder if it’s our fate to either become stepping stones for other people or burn out on our own?”

Paula raised Lucas’ plasma sword, her face blank and her arms tensing.

“Please,” Ness said. “We don’t need to suffer. Let’s cut a path together.”

Paula hesitated. For a moment, silence hung in the air. Then Paula’s face twisted into a wicked grin.

“FITTING LAST WORDS FOR A HERO.”

She drove the plasma sword into Ness’ chest.

The last thing he registered before falling unconscious was Lucas screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing action is too damn harddddd  
> Ahem.  
> Hope you’re all doing well. :) And by well, I mean at a minimum better than Ness is doing at the end of this chapter. Thanks to everyone who’s reading these chapters. It really means the world to me. :D  
> And I think I went a chapter without ripping off Fire Emblem. Oh noes what is happening to me.   
> Notes:  
> -Many of the lines of Ness’ prayer here are taken directly from Earthbound. Interestingly, these prayers never mention a deity of any sort, but are more of a call for people to come together and lend their strength. In fact, different faiths are never really discussed in Earthbound. Thus, commentary on religion in these chapters is focused on the church as an institution rather than as a faith, which seems more familiar to Ness and friends.   
> -In Earthbound, Giygas had to be defeated by praying. Therefore, he’s quite confident here that he can win once the prayers fail and Ness + Lucas fight him with weapons and PSI


	16. The Lonely Child

**One Year Ago:**

“Hmm, where do I begin?” Ness’ mother tilted her head and stared out the window. “The first time I dated was in college. Never really had an interest before then. Never really had an interest after, actually.”

Ness frowned, but nodded.

“He was one of those quiet kids,” his mom said. “Like… your friend Poo. Not spiritually enlightened, but similar in that he was soft without being shy. He was confident and proactive, but only took charge and spoke up when he needed to. At the time, that combination of traits in a man was even rarer than today.”

“Sounds like he was a strong, thoughtful boy, then.” Ness smirked.

She smiled back. “He was. So when he asked me out on a date, I figured why not? I didn’t have any feelings for him, but I assumed they would come. And they did… sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“I did love him.” She shrugged. “He was the kind of boyfriend who made it hard not to. Always buying me stuffed animals of the birds I loved as a child, writing me cute little notes. And… ah, that’s probably not something I should be talking with you about.”

“He was… good in bed?” Ness suggested.

She raised an eyebrow “I’m learning a lot about what you do and don’t find weird for your parents to talk about. I was just going to say that he was attractive, but I know it makes most kids uncomfortable to hear their parents talk about stuff like that.”

Ness shrugged. It was all so foreign to him anyway, so picturing his parents in those situations was only marginally weirder than picturing anyone else.

“But that’s not the point,” his mom said. “I mean, I guess it kind of is. There were some parts of the relationship we were both invested in, but I _hated_ the romance.”

“Really.”

“Yeah, and this guy was probably the best you could ask for in a date partner. Always kept up the conversation without focusing it on himself, super emotionally receptive. And I did enjoy spending time with him. But there was just something in me that didn’t fit well into a romantic setting.”

This time, Ness’ smile wasn’t forced. His mother’s experiences were different than his own, since he was never attracted to Paula, but they were… closer? Maybe?

“After cutting things off with him, I felt the same as what you’re telling me about yourself,” his mother said. “That if I couldn’t make it with someone perfect, what hope did I have? I beat myself up, trying to force myself to date guys I knew were nice. I thought I needed to change who I was in order to fit in with everyone else. That was one of the biggest mistakes I made.”

Ness studied her eyes. At least she looked at peace now.

“What happened?”

“Just a lot of wasted time. Looking back, it wasn’t fair for me or them. It’s not fun for either party when someone in the relationship isn’t happy. All the boys I dated ended up with someone much better for them after we broke up. And those months spent dating them didn’t really feel like _my_ life. I was trying to live as the person I thought I should be, not the person I was.”

Ness looked down at the floor and nodded. Two and a half years struggling to make Paula happy, and for what?

But at least he wasn’t alone in asking those questions.

“Then I met your father,” his mother said. “Sweet, not too loud, and hated romance just as much as I did. Right off the bat, things just… worked. We were clear to each other that while we were in a relationship, but we weren’t dating. It sounds like a contradiction, but it made sense to us. We were testing things out to see if we would be compatible to get married and have kids together. And here we are.”

“It must have been lucky,” Ness said, “To find someone else like you.”

“Yes and no. Saying that there probably aren’t many people like your father and me is true enough. But there _were_ people like me out there. All I needed to do was be honest with who I am and what I wanted in order to start seeing them.”

“So this is all some lesson for me, then?” Ness said.

“I don’t have the authority to tell you how successful relationships work,” his mother said. “I can only tell you what worked for me. And I’m guessing that you aren’t looking for anything as extreme as me and my whole no-romance thing. But I think being honest with ourselves will always help us see who’s right for us instead of who _should_ be right for us.”

Ness saw a chance to say what, over the long years with Paula, he kept locked deep within his mind. His heart pounded in his chest. If he voiced his thoughts, he wouldn’t be able to pretend that they didn’t exist anymore. For a moment, he considered nodding along and staying silent.

But who knew when the next chance would come?

“What if I want something more extreme?” Ness said. “What if I don’t think romance is for me, and I also don’t find anyone attractive? What if I don’t want to ever get married?”

His mother smiled at him, wrapping an arm around his side. “Then it sounds like you should get to work finding the best friends ever.”

#

**~~209X~~ **

**????:**

Ness started awake in warm water.

He hopped to his feet and looked around, seeing the water turn from blue to purple. The Sea of Eden, with its golden sky and green auroras. Why did this all seem so familiar?

Wait. Paula stabbed him. He should be dead.

He glanced around to see another version of himself sitting on the yellow mound in the center of the lake where his nightmare stood five years ago, holding a baseball bat. His doppelganger smiled and tossed the baseball bat in the air, catching it on the way down without looking.

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” the other Ness said.

Ness looked down at his hands. No glass ring for a sword, and no PSI.

“Do I know you?” Ness said, glancing up at the other version of himself.

“Yes and no. Feel free to call me Sen.”

“Sen…” Ness narrowed his eyes. “Did I come up with that name?”

“Ooh, you remembered.” Sen’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t you join me, Ness?”

“What happened to Lucas and Paula?”

“I can answer all your questions when I don’t have to shout as loud.”

Ness sighed, wading through the Sea of Eden, watching its soft glow light up the air around his fingers. He walked up the steps of the yellow platform, and the water rolled off his skin and clothes without leaving him wet or cold. Sen rose to his feet and offered a hand. Ness raised an eyebrow, but accepted the handshake.

“Should I be afraid of you?” Ness said.

“Of me? Not at all. Of the person whose face I wear?” Sen laughed. “Fear them more than anything. Do I still wear your skin, Ness?”

Ness frowned, crossing his arms. No harm in staying quiet to gauge the situation.

“I guess it doesn’t matter.” Sen shrugged. “As you may have guessed, your body is dying. Again.”

The hairs on the back of Ness’ neck stood up. “And did we meet like this when I was dying the first time?”

Sen bobbed his head up and down. “See, I knew you were a smart kid.”

Ness let out a slow exhale through his nose. “How much time do we have?”

“And I like your pragmatism. Why couldn’t you be more like this the first time?”

“It sounds like you remember the encounter better than I do,” Ness said, “But I imagine I didn’t feel a rush to return to the world of the living back then. Now I do.”

“Great. Let’s get to the point.” Sen’s face lit up with a childlike grin. “I need you to embrace the darkness within you.”

Ness took a step back. “Did I hear you right?”

“Oh, Ness.” Sen shook his head. “I thought you could connect the dots. You prayed to the light. You prayed to your people. You prayed to God.”

Sen’s appearance switched to Paula’s, her body covered in dark armor and her eyes glowing red.

“And they all left you in the darkness,” she said, the voice sounding like Paula’s. “Alone. But that’s okay. This is where your heart belongs.”

Her appearance changed to Lucas’, holding a plasma sword in front of him. Sen swung the blade, and Ness leapt back to avoid it.

“What happened when you tried to be a hero, Ness?” Sen said, his smile looking unnatural on Lucas’ face. “What happened when you tried to be who _they_ wanted instead of who you are?”

“Are you doing the switching thing on purpose?” Ness said.

Lucas’ appearance turned to Poo’s. Sen chuckled.

“I’ll stop doing it when you give into me, Ness. When I can take your arms and legs, your eyes and your ears, then we can be one.”

Sen transformed into Ness’ mother.

“Because believe it or not,” she said, “I only have your best interests in mind.”

“Forgive me for finding that difficult to believe.”

His mother’s face morphed into Hinawa’s.

“Do you remember what she told you?” Sen said, her voice soft and sad. “That your darkness was going to surface, and that you needed to face it head on? Here I am.”

“So you’re the nightmare inside my head,” Ness said. “The one I tried to kick out of my mind five years ago.”

Sen’s appearance changed to resemble Jeff. He cocked his head and put a finger on his chin.

“Yes and no. But let’s go with your explanation for now. I have powers beyond your understanding. Darkness that can swallow your mind.”

“How tempting to give into you, then.”

“I’m the only reason you’re still alive, Ness.” Jeff turned to Claus, helmet off and one eye glowing red. “If I could save you without merging us together, I would. The last time, your PSI was the danger, so I just turned it off.”

Ness narrowed his gaze. “So you’re the reason I don’t have PSI anymore.”

Claus became Tracy. “And you didn’t even thank me. How rude.”

“I know the stories, Sen. How creatures of the dark make bargains with unsuspecting souls. Do you know what happens to the people who make those deals?”

Tracy became Paula again, except this time she was wearing her jeans and t-shirt, her eyes their regular deep blue instead of a possessed red.

“Who writes those stories, Ness? What do they want?”

Ness bit his lip. He reminded himself that just because Sen was using Paula’s face didn’t mean that the words were hers.

“And do those stories ever make room for people like her?” Sen leaned in. “For people like you?”

“We’re not the only ones who are different,” Ness said. “And there are other ways than not being straight.”

“True enough.” Sen turned away. “There are many people that your world doesn’t make room for. In that way, it’s no different than mine.”

Ness frowned, but said nothing.

Sen looked back at Ness over her shoulder. “So what are you going to do, Ness? Are you going to die playing by the rules, or are you going to live on and see your dreams blossom by using the only strength that ever offered its hand?”

“So I join with you, and get immense power,” Ness said. “What’s the catch?”

“You’ll never belong.”

“You need to be more specific than that.”

Sen paced back and forth, a motion that was out of place when she wore Paula’s face.

“This power only offers itself to people who are lost,” Sen said. “And if you accept it, you’ll never quite fit in again. You won’t be able to connect with ‘regular’ people. Remember, they’ve been taught to fear the dark. They’ve been taught to fear who you will become. You might end up a traveler with no permanent home.”

Sen halted, looking over at Ness with a sad smile.

“But you never had a home in your world begin with, did you? Neither of you did.”

“My mother…” Ness stopped himself. He would have to move out of his parents’ place soon, and where would he go from there?

“I know that the stories tell you to fear the dark,” Sen said. “To resist the temptation of the unholy. But what if the darkness it the only way you can live? If hell is like the stories say, then people like you are going there just for being different. Why not live while you have the chance?”

Ness frowned. If he weren’t attracted to men then the Christians probably wouldn’t scream for him to burn for an eternity, but could he let himself to go to their version of heaven knowing that the lost and innocent were suffering beneath?

Besides, if the Christian hell was real and he went there for embracing the darkness, he would be able to visit Paula.

“One question,” Ness said. “Will the darkness give me the strength to work with Paula to free her from Giygas?”

“That’s a complicated question with a complicated answer,” Sen said. “Paula will never be free of Giygas’ influence, but how she deals with him is up in the air.”

Ness nodded. “I think that’s all.”

Sen smiled, her appearance changing to once again match Ness’ own.

“You don’t have to tell me your decision,” Sen said. “We’ll return to the world outside of your mind, and you can choose to embrace the darkness if you want. Either way, thanks for being a good sport.”

“You’re welcome. I think?”

Sen laughed. “I’m going to miss you, Ness. Assuming that you don’t live through this, anyway. It’s been nice living in your head for all these years.”

“I’m sure you could have phrased that in a way that wasn’t nearly as creepy.”

“Probably.” Sen smirked. “Ready to return to the living? You’re close enough to me that I think you’ll remember this encounter.”

Ness met Sen’s gaze and nodded. “Let’s give it another shot.”

#

Ness blinked awake to see the flashing red and black background of Giygas. The plasma sword still hummed in his chest, throbbing along with Ness’ heartbeat. He yanked the sword out and tossed it to the side, nearly blacking out again from the pain. He rose to his feet to see Paula floating by Lucas, whose eyes were wide open as he stared at Ness.

“Geez, how long was I out?” Ness said, clutching his chest.

Paula whirled around, the rays from her glowing red eyes blinding him until he flinched away.

“AND JUST LIKE A TRUE HERO, HE RISES AGAIN. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME NOW, CHILD?”

“I’m going to do something you’ll never expect.” Ness limped towards Paula. “Let me get over there and I can show you.”

Paula chuckled. “LET’S SEE THIS PLAN OF YOURS. I WANT TO OBSERVE WHAT YOUR HUMAN… ‘DETERMINATION’ IS WORTH.”

She flew up to him and grabbed his face, her dark armor cold on his skin. She squeezed his cheeks together until Ness was positive that he was making fish lips.

“SHE HATES THIS, YOU KNOW. SO GO ON, HERO. TRY AND FAIL. BREAK YOUR FRIEND’S HEART AGAIN.”

“Ness.” Lucas’ voice was hoarse. “We can’t… get her out of there. I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s possible.”

“You’re right,” Ness said. “And that’s because we’ve been looking at it wrong from the start.”

Ness closed his eyes. He could see it there, lurking in the corners of his vision. Tendrils of darkness, blacker than the inside of his eyelids. Maybe it was always there from the start.

 _Did you find the darkness inside yourself, Ness?_ Hinawa’s pained voice echoed in his mind. _It is closer to the surface. Don’t fight it._

Ness didn’t try to stop the black as it crept further into his vision. He breathed in, and let a sensation of calm spread throughout his body.

It was okay for him to be himself. Even if he were different. Even if he woke up the next day and all of Eagleland decided that people like him also belonged in hell.

Ness opened his eyes to see dark wisps coming off the wound in his chest where Paula stabbed him. She frowned in what looked like confusion. Ness exhaled.

“Lifeup Ω.”

The sensation was different. Not cool and refreshing, but warm like a crackling fire in winter. Not a green glow, but a black one. But when Ness looked down, his wounds still vanished. Ness smirked to himself. Whatever the coat of paint, PSI was PSI. No need to fear the dark.

“WHY ACCEPT THE DARKNESS NOW, WHEN IT IS TOO LATE?” Paula said, letting go of Ness. “SUCH A CURIOUS CHILD.”

“Healing γ.”

Lucas stumbled forward out of his numbed state. He scrambled over to the plasma sword that Ness tossed on the ground.

“That won’t be necessary,” Ness said. Turning back to Paula, “I promised a surprise for you. Here it is.”

He reached out and grabbed onto Paula’s armored hands.

“PSI magnet.”

Little beads of darkness coalesced on the back of Paula’s hands, rolling off her fingertips and disappearing into Ness’ skin. Paula looked at him with a frown.

Thank goodness Paula taught him that PSI ability back when they were dating.

“THE PSI ISN’T JUST THE POWER SHE WIELDS, CHILD. IT IS ME. YOU ARE ONLY TURNING YOURSELF INTO ANOTHER ONE OF MY VESSELS BY BRINGING ME IN.”

“Exactly,” Ness said. “PSI magnet.”

Ness drew more and more PSI energy out of Paula, which brought the darkness along with it. Or was PSI itself the darkness? Either way, Ness knew it wasn’t something to fear. Paula frowned at him, but didn’t try to resist.

As Ness drained the darkness from Paula, he closed his eyes and focused on the sound of his own heartbeat. After a few moments, he could hear a voice whispering in the back of his mind.

_“I never thought you would go this far, Ness.”_

_“Guess I have nothing to lose,”_ Ness thought back.

He sensed amusement from the other side. _“Oh, I don’t know if I agree. Try not to let me take over, all right? It would be a real shame to lose you.”_

Pain erupted in Ness’ chest. He let out a scream that he could barely hear through the throbbing. He kept his mind focused on drawing more of the darkness away from Paula. Nothing else mattered right now.

And then he heard it. Another heartbeat inside his chest, a phantom _thump, thump_ that was off-pace with his own. Each beat brought a new burst of pain.

Ness didn’t stop.

 _“Be careful with the darkness,”_ the voice said. _“You don’t want to cut yourself on a sword this sharp.”_

Ness gritted his teeth. Careful didn’t work during the two and a half long years he tried to pretend to be the perfect boyfriend for Paula. Careful didn’t work when he was stalking a creature who released a calamity the moment he arrived in this world. Careful didn’t work when Paula’s life was at stake.

“Stop it, Ness.”

Ness realized he was squeezing his eyes shut and opened them to see Paula’s blue irises staring back into his, heavy and frail. A wind sent Paula’s neck-length hair flapping behind her, and Ness felt the gusts of air pass by the back of his own head but not the front. He glanced over to see Lucas bracing himself as the wind battered him.

“You’re just creating two Giygases,” Paula said. “We can’t handle the energy, even together.”

“We can try,” Ness said.

“Even if this works,” Paula said. “Even if we can come to terms with the darkness inside us, we’ll never be the same. Kill me and go back to the life you left behind in Onett. You deserve a happy ending.”

“It’s not a happy ending if I leave you behind,” Ness said. “And it’s not a happy ending if I return to a world that won’t accept me for who I am either.”

Paula’s eyes widened. “Ever since our breakup, I wondered… But now isn’t the time. You’re willing to risk it all? For me?”

“Not just for me,” Ness said. “For us.”

Another burst of pain erupted in Ness’ chest, and he could see Paula wincing while he did. Her grip on his hands tightened.

“I don’t think we can do it, Ness,” Paula said. “Not the two of us.”

“Then how about three?” came a voice from the side.

Ness glanced over to see Lucas, squinting as the wind sent his shirt flapping. He stepped up to Ness and Paula, offering a hand to each of them.

“I don’t know what this is going to do to our bodies,” Paula said, “But if we’re drawing in a part of Giygas into us, I don’t think our lives will be the same ever again. Are you willing to accept that, Lucas?”

“I am.” Lucas looked from Paula to Ness. “I know what it’s like to be alone as well. Not for the same reasons, but I think the darkness is close to my heart as well.” He put a hand over his chest. “It’s time to make it my own.”

Ness met Lucas’ gaze and nodded. He didn’t need to be told that they were working with powers far beyond their control, that there was no guarantee that the outcome would be good for any of them. He didn’t need to be told that if there were a deity checking human hubris like the stories said, that god would bring his fist down and crush them all.

Because in Lucas’ eyes, Ness saw an all too familiar desperation. A desire for _anything_ to work out in his life. And beneath that desperation, Ness saw a glimmer of hope. Ness knew that foolish wish beating in his own chest, that maybe his strength combined with his friends’ would finally be enough.

So it didn’t surprise Ness that when he grabbed onto Lucas’ hand, he was greeted with a firm grip that left all doubts behind.

Because just like them, Lucas had nothing to lose.

“I wanted to thank you both,” Lucas said, the wind raging outside the circle that the three of them formed. “I thought I was lost in a world I didn’t understand. It turns out that I was just waiting to find the people who could understand me.”

“That was all Ness,” Paula said. “I should have trusted you more.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Ness said. “You worked better with him than you’re giving yourself credit for. Fighting side by side with both of you reminded me of the old days where we didn’t even need to talk to know what our plan was.”

Another burst of pain in his chest. When Ness’ vision returned, he glanced over at Lucas and Paula to see them grimacing as they took deep breaths.

Ness latched onto the image of their faces, and the pain didn’t hurt as much.

“I thought I put everything into my duel with you,” Lucas said. “But I think there’s something more in me. A force that’s even stronger than fighting for ideals I believe in.”

“And that is?” Paula said.

Lucas chuckled. “Fighting for the right to exist. Fighting so that all the little broken kids like me can get up and keep walking, whatever it takes.”

“Even if it means giving in to the darkness?” Ness said.

“A little late to turn back, isn’t it?” Lucas put on a weak smile. “I meant what I said about being alone just like you two. Not because I was treated poorly for my sexuality, but because I was always the pathetic little crybaby that nobody liked even before Porky arrived.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter where that pain comes from,” Paula said, “So long as it’s there.”

“And we’re about to change that,” Ness said. “Together.”

“No matter what it takes,” Lucas said.

“No matter what it takes,” Paula echoed.

Another flash of pain. This time, through the burning red in his vision, Ness saw a vision of the Sea of Eden, glistening blue and purple under the green lights in the golden sky.

Was it a coincidence that Sen spoke to him there as well?

The view in the vision shifted around, like Ness was seeing through someone else’s eyes. And when it did, Ness could make out the other people nearby. He couldn’t see or hear them, because they didn’t have physical forms like the people in Eagleland or the future universe Ness followed Jeff to. But he could sense them, enough to tell that their hearts were cold. Turned away from the eyes Ness was seeing through, all of them linked to each other except the person Ness was seeing through.

_I was just a child._

A spark of energy flew of in front of Ness. The hexagon shape and familiar crackling noise told Ness that it was some sort of PSI. Now all the people in the vision turned their attention towards the person Ness was looking through.

_They hated me._

The people drew closer and closer. The vision shifted back and forth until the child Ness saw through was surrounded. He could feel their anger, but it was the emotion buried deeper within that surprised Ness.

Fear.

_If they gave me the chance, I would have controlled it._

The people advanced until they piled on top of person in the vision. Without the people having physical forms, the Sea of Eden’s landscape didn’t change, but the sensation felt like drowning.

_I would have used my powers to help them._

And then… nothing. Pitch black.

_I spent lifetimes down here alone._

Blurry grey appeared in the vision. It took several seconds to come into focus, showing an image of the jagged cliffs in the Cave of the Past.

_I tried to hold onto who I was._

The vision showed the child looking around and wandering from one cliff to the other. A timelapse fast-forward took Ness into the future. Days? Years? Millenia? He couldn’t tell.

_I failed._

The world blinked black once. Twice. Three times.

Then the background turned dark and red in the pattern of Giygas.

_I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you, Ness._

“Giygas?” Ness didn’t know if the words were actually coming out of his mouth. “Is that you?”

He heard a whimper from the other side.

“Or maybe not Giygas,” Ness said, “But Sen.”

_You were correct the first time. And you are correct now._

“Why save my life twice to try and kill me when you’re out here?”

_I tried to hold back, Ness. I just wanted to help. But being alone between these worlds with so much PSI energy pent up within me is too much to bear._

“I think I understand.”

_It doesn’t change anything, does it? I made thousands of people suffer. You don’t know me. You shouldn’t care about my pain. Why are you taking me into your body?_

“At first, it was to save my friend,” Ness said. “The dark power would have overwhelmed her as it did you, yes?”

_That’s right. Another lost soul for PSI to claim. I only gave it to lost children in small quantities that they could handle. I thought if I gave it to enough of them that I…_

“That you could give it all away and be free,” Ness said. “But we shut you away from our world.”

_I don’t blame you. My anger was corrupting the world you loved. It shouldn’t matter what sob story I have if I’m hurting people._

“The way I see it, you only brought out evil that was lurking beneath the surface in the first place,” Ness said. “My friend Paula used a useful expression. You’re just a cornered animal lashing out. And who’s the one doing the cornering?”

_I… they hated me so much. I must have deserved it._

“I know nothing about your people,” Ness said. “I know nothing about you. But I can tell that you’re hurting. I can tell that you’re powerless. And I know that when you’re in my mind, things are a bit better.”

_That’s true. The part of me that resides in your Magicant is at peace._

“And that part of you is what… gives me PSI?”

_Correct. Same with Paula, Lucas, Poo, Kumatora…_

“Then let me share a bit more of your burden, Sen.”

_You want… me to come in?_

“I think there’s room in my skull for two. I’m not saying things will be easy. But at least neither of us will be alone.”

_It seems too good to be true. That my fate-_

“Is to suffer, because you couldn’t be the person the others wanted you to be?”

_It’s been so long…_

“Somebody needs to take the first step, Sen. Come into my mind. I promise I won’t bite.”

_Thank you, Ness._

Tears rolled down Ness’ cheeks, but they didn’t come from him. He wiped them away with a frown, but more replaced them.

_Thank you._

#

The vision faded, and Ness was lying on the ground by the area with the white sphere where Ness first saw Paula. No creepy red and black Giygas background, thank goodness. He hopped to his feet to see Lucas and Paula rising from the same laying positions, blinking and glancing around. Paula didn’t have the glow in her eyes, and her armor was replaced by her usual t-shirt and jeans combo. Ness looked closer at them and flinched.

Both of them now possessed bright red irises.

“Wait,” Ness said. “Don’t tell me my eyes changed color too.”

Lucas glanced at him with a grunt. “You look like a vampire.”

“You do have the dark hair for it,” Paula said. “But hey. I think that both of you would make _sexy_ vampires. You know how the chicks love a hot paranormal romance.”

Lucas smirked. “Not attracted to girls. Do you think boys would think the same way?”

“I dunno.” Paula glanced over at Ness. “Could you judge that?”

“Not attracted to men or women,” Ness said. “So to me your eyes just look… different? I don’t know. This will take some getting used to.”

Why did it feel so good to put his sexuality out in the open? And it felt even better when Lucas and Paula nodded like it was just another detail about him.

“That’s not the important part,” Ness said. “Did either of you see a glowing lake from the perspective of a child? Did you hear a voice that spoke to you?”

Lucas and Paula exchanged a glance. Both of them nodded.

“And what did you do once they told their story?” Ness said.

“I let them in,” Paula said.

“I did as well.” Lucas looked at the ground. “They reminded me too much of my brother.”

“But what does it mean?” Paula said. “And where’s Giygas?”

Ness thrust a hand up to the emptiness and a blast of energy fired off from his hand, a beam of blood red that gave off wisps of darkness. From all of his years of using PSI, he could judge by the way it flowed out of his body how powerful each ability was.

And this energy that came almost unbidden was more powerful than anything Ness did in the past.

“Looks like it means we beat Giygas and absorbed his powers?” Lucas said.

Ness grinned. “Not quite. It means we _are_ Giygas now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to tie up (most) loose ends in the story, and there’s a little epilogue afterwards. Thank you so much for reading this far. The size of this fic ended up being about the length of a novel, so y’all can sorta say that you read a book. :D  
> Notes:  
> -Here I have Ness’ mother as heterosexual and aromantic, though the term aromantic to describe people wasn’t popularized as much until online communities formed in the early 2000s. We never see her interact with Ness’ dad, so it’s entirely possible that this was their dynamic.  
> -Similarly, it’s implied in the flashback that Ness is asexual/aromantic. Having him make a big coming-out announcement would feel heavy-handed from a narrative perspective since it’s not really a surprise at this point, so I kept it a bit more subtle.  
> -Ness’ Nightmare takes the shape of a golden statue in the Sea of Eden. After defeating it, Ness grows powerful enough to fight Giygas (and also gets the best level up of any video game ever).


	17. Until We Meet Again

**Twelve hours ago:**

When Ness started awake in the Sea of Eden after drifting off to sleep following his baseball game with Lucas and Flint, he remembered everything about his first encounter with Sen. He hopped to his feet and glanced over to the yellow island in the glowing sea to see another version of himself leaning on one of the spikes around the outer ring of the landmass.

“You appeared to me once when I tried to kill myself,” Ness said. “Why now?”

“Oh, maybe I’m like Paula,” Sen said. “Want to get some last words in case I lose you. You’re in more danger than you realize, regardless of what happens between you and Porky tomorrow.”

Ness let out a growl. So not only was this creature playing with him, he could see everything that happened to Ness. Sen reminded Ness of an alien parasite from one of those sci-fi movies, waiting to take over Ness’ body and turn him against other humans.

“Will I forget everything about this conversation after I wake up, too?” Ness said.

“Yeah. It’s hard to communicate you when you’re so far away. I guess your memory is what takes the hit.” Sen cocked his head. “Speaking of which, why don’t you come a bit closer so I don’t have to shout?”

Ness crossed his arms. “I don’t see why I should even engage you if I won’t remember anything I figure out.”

Sen sighed loud enough for Ness to hear. “Fine. You’re not a hospitable host, you know that?”

He vanished out of sight, materializing out of thin air a pace in front of Ness the next moment. Ness raised his arms into a defensive position, scanning the Sea of Eden for any sort of weapon. Nothing.

“I get why you just want to relax before your big fight,” Sen said, “But even if you don’t remember anything from our conversation, you can still learn something.”

“How does that make any sense?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault that you fleshlings don’t have the language for dealing with complex ideas.” Sen turned his nose up and sniffed. “I’m working with what I’ve got.”

Fleshlings? Was Sen… a robot?

“Listen, Ness,” Sen said, glancing down at the water. “I wanted to take a bit to tell you about PSI. Maybe some part of it will carry over.”

“And it will help me get my PSI back?” Ness said.

“That’s the hope. After all, I was the one who gave you PSI in the first place. No, that’s not exactly right. Your silly little language again.” Sen wrinkled his nose. “I am the PSI inside of you.”

“Huh.”

“It’s okay. You can go ahead and be mystified, Ness.”

“I always pictured PSI as an energy within me,” Ness said. “But it’s more of a… symbiosis?”

“Ooh, your language does have some neat words. Symbiosis.” Sen cocked his head. “Yes, that’s right. PSI is a living, breathing entity that resides inside of you. The fact that I’m here means you still have some capacity for PSI.”

“So I didn’t _lose_ PSI,” Ness said. “I just disturbed my relationship with it.”

“Right. I have to believe that you won’t hurt yourself in order to restore that connection.”

“I can’t promise that,” Ness said. “Never can, never will. Any weapon is a tool I can use against myself. But I have other ways of killing myself if I wanted to. PSI would give me a higher chance of living through the day.”

“I know that, and I can reason with this logical part of you,” Sen said. “But that trust isn’t there. You still have the darkness inside of you.”

“Do you know anything about what Hinawa mentioned?”

Sen shrugged. “You were hiding it from her, and you’re hiding it from me. But I can tell you that darkness drew me towards you in the first place.”

Ness thought back to when he was fighting Giygas and he saw a vision into the past. His parents, leaning over his crib, putting a red baseball cap on him. And then, he saw the baby bottle on the nearby table turn towards Ness on its own. That must be PSI.

“So you were with me since I was a baby.”

Sen grinned. “You were cute as a kid, by the way. At first, I thought I made a mistake. But you showed the same darkness as everyone else who can use PSI.”

“But Paula, Poo, and I aren’t bad people. Trust me, I would know by this point.”

“Not darkness as in evil. Darkness as in…” Sen gestured towards the air. “Sorrow. Loneliness. Something that most people can’t understand. Something that lingers with you. These are the people I grant my powers to.”

“Then why are you surprised at what happened to me?” Ness said. “My father owns guns, you know. He tried to show me where they were and how to use them to defend myself. Each time, I refused. Do you want to know why, Sen? Or did you already see the answer inside of my mind?”

Sen opened his mouth, then closed it. Coughed into a fist.

“Because I knew that sooner or later, I would use them to kill myself,” Ness said. “I don’t know why I’m broken, Sen. I can’t put the pieces back together. Why would you give the weapon to someone like me?”

“Because you don’t have anything else.”

Ness took a step towards Sen, eyes narrowing. “Excuse me?”

“Nobody else is going to give you the strength to carve your own path. It’s a lonely road, being different. Besides, the entity that makes those decisions… they are me, yet they are also not. I cannot explain it in this primitive language. But changing my mind on this will not affect the views of the larger me.”

Ness let out a sigh, stepping back.

“You’re probably right. I’m sorry, Sen. You’re not the one I should be angry at.”

And who _should_ Ness shake his fist at? From birth, he was raised by perfect parents in a perfect little town and went on a life-changing journey with life-changing friends. What did someone like him possibly have to complain about?

And yet.

Hinawa wasn’t the only one who thought he was struggling with something beyond his control. Here Sen was, saying the same damned thing.

What would it mean if there were actually a reason that the world around him felt so cold?

“I just wanted to let you know,” Sen said, “That you have my support. But you need to be okay with who you are first. Even if your brain does not remember this conversation, I hope that your heart does. For when you fight Porky, and for when you encounter Giygas.”

Another piece of evidence to add to the mountain supporting Poo’s theory about alternate dimensions that Giygas lived in between. Ness met Sen’s gaze and nodded.

“Are you ready to return to sleep, Ness?” Sen said. “You have a long day ahead of you.”

“I suppose.”

Ness stared up at the golden sky and the green aurora of the Sea of Eden. Maybe he was wrong to cleanse the darkness from his mind the first time he came here five years ago.

Maybe this nightmare would never leave.

And maybe that was okay.

#

**~~209X~~ **

**????:**

Ness walked out of the cave where Giygas resided, footsteps of Lucas and Paula echoing behind him, to see the Jeff robot sitting down with his back against the grey wall. The robot looked up when they emerged, and Ness looked back into his deep black eyes, feeling a grin spread across his face.

“I think we did it, Jeff,” Ness said.

“My diagnostics do identify that none of you have the virus anymore,” Jeff said, “But how is that possible?”

“Let’s talk about that after figuring out how to get you back into your body,” Paula said.

The robot made a sad whirring noise. “I’m afraid that is not possible. I am unfortunately quite dead, and there is no force in this world that can bring the dead back to life.”

“Not even if we have the power of Giygas?” Lucas said.

“Not even then.”

“But this consciousness inside of you…” Paula glanced up into the emptiness. “I have some ideas about how we can preserve what’s left of you outside the robot, Jeff. But first, we should make sure that everything is okay in the world we came from. How do we get back there?”

The robot glanced away. “I was researching that but made no progress. Please forgive me. I figured that you would be okay dying here knowing that you saved another world from Giygas.”

“No need to apologize,” Ness said. “And I’m glad to see that you still know us well.”

“Giygas can travel between dimensions,” Lucas said. “We should be able to as well.”

“And we could take you with us, Jeff,” Ness said.

“As a robot?” A sad _boop_ followed. “I’m afraid not. This version you are seeing of me can only exist in Giygas’ dimension. And not for much longer, unfortunately.”

“Don’t worry, Ness.” Paula clapped him on the shoulder and smiled. “I have ideas. Let’s just focus on how to get back to the future dimension.”

“If you truly do have the powers of Giygas, you should be able to use PK Planewalk,” Jeff said.

Ness exchanged glances with Lucas and Paula. After a pause, Paula snorted.

“Fine. I’ll do it. Are there any precautions I should take, Jeff?”

“It summons a portal, so think of which universe you want to visit and where you want to go. I would recommend somewhere on Earth.”

“Yeah, yeah. You don’t need to be a kid genius to recognize that it’s not a good idea to teleport straight into the sun.”

“If you have Giygas’ powers, you might survive. Then again, you might not. Just keep the portal away from me, if you plan to visit me later.”

“Got it.” Paula turned back to Ness. “We probably shouldn’t take too long on goodbyes. For all we know, Poo is still fighting Kumatora back there.”

Oh, right. Ness turned back to Jeff and waved.

“We can come back and talk later,” Ness said. “But for now, I’ll just say thanks. It’s been a wild ride, but I’m happy to call you my friend.”

“I am grateful as well,” Jeff said. “Thank you for taking me on an adventure of a lifetime, and I’m glad you were able to save another world from Giygas. All in all, I think I’ve lived enough to be satisfied with how things went.”

Ness froze. It was hard to believe when his voice was right here, but Jeff was really dead and wasn’t coming back. There would be no more visiting Jeff in starman valley and lay down under the sun while chatting as tools clanked in the background. There would be no more gatherings where the whole gang got together at a restaurant and reminisced about the old days at a local burger shop. There would be no more-

A hand fell on his shoulder. He looked over to see Paula, and the conviction in her eyes brought his heart rate back to a normal level. He could put faith in her plans.

Behind her, he saw an open portal humming. On the other side was the room resembling Ness’ house in Porky’s tower, glass from Porky’s shattered mech widow scattered around. Lucas stepped through the opening and waved from the other side.

“It’s time to go,” Ness said. “But I’ll be back, Jeff. I promise.”

The robot nodded. No more point in drawing this pain out.

He turned away, gripped onto Paula’s hand, and walked through the portal.

When it closed behind him, he fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

#

Ness’ journey to fight Giygas taught him to bounce back quickly from difficult moments. An ally fell in battle? It wouldn’t do any good to panic. Steady, logical thinking helped them live to fight another day.

This pragmatism didn’t help as much as Ness expected with the dull pain that came from loss, but at least Ness was back on his feet within a couple of minutes. Just in time to see Claus running through the door.

“Oh, thank good-” Claus paused.

He looked back and forth between Ness, Lucas, and Paula. An eyepiece flipped over his left eye, and he adjusted it with his fingers while glancing between them.

“Brother,” Claus said. “Why do you have Giygas’ power inside of you?”

Lucas looked to Paula, and then to Ness after she shrugged.

“It’s a long story,” Ness said. “We’re still us, and we’re not here to hurt you.”

“Lucas.” Claus’ eyepiece flipped back away, hiding beneath his hair. “What’s your favorite food?”

“What?”

“Trying to make sure it’s you. What food did we always get excited when mom made?”

“I imagine it would be the same in your dimension,” Lucas said. “Omelets?”

Claus released a sigh. “Guess I don’t have much choice but to trust you, at least for now. Your friend is still fighting pink-haired girl and wouldn’t listen when I told him to come up here so I could lock her out. Oh, and according to the scans built into my eyepiece, nobody has the virus anymore, including any of you. That’s probably the most important part.”

Ness let out a whoop. Two universes saved by the age of 17 wasn’t a bad track record at all. He high-fived Paula, and then Lucas.

A pained groan rose from the behind Ness. He whirled around to see Porky rising from inside his mech, eyes blinking open. He let out a pained chuckle as he rose to a sitting position.

“How long has it been, Ness?” Porky said. “How long do you have to live?”

Claus stepped forward, the eyepiece flipping back over to intercept his line of sight.

“Looks like he isn’t invincible anymore,” Claus said. “Giygas’ power was what made him unkillable, and he doesn’t have that after whatever you did to cure the virus.”

“Oh, boy.” Paula cracked her knuckles.

Porky shrunk back into his mech. “I know you’re just messing with me, creature. I’ll have you back nice and obedient soon, after we get everyone else out of the way.”

“Would you like to do the honors, Claus?” Paula said. “After all, you have more reason than the rest of us to hate him.”

Ness groaned. “Did working at a daycare teach you that it’s okay to let thirteen year-olds murder people, Paula?”

She waved a hand in dismissal. “Eh, we’re minors too.”

“That makes it sound worse, not better.”

“I think I should hold off on taking lives for a while,” Claus said, frowning. “Given that at least one of you seems to have no problem performing violent deeds, anyway.”

Ness stared over at Paula to drive in the point. She rolled her eyes, but didn’t raise any more objections.

“How about you, Lucas?” Ness said.

“I think I’d like that,” Lucas said, his voice soft. “After all, he took away everything I loved.”

Lucas walked towards Porky, summoning his plasma blade. Claus cleared his throat, and when Ness looked back he gestured at the door.

“We should give your friend backup, yes?”

Ness looked over his shoulder at Lucas. “Porky did terrible things, but I knew him since we were kids. Maybe I should hear out his last words.”

“He’s filth,” Paula said. “Let him die alone and unloved. Let him die with nobody to hear his screams. You can do what you want, Ness, but I think we should focus on helping the people who deserve it.”

Ness drew a shaky breath. Paula was right. There were kids out there who were alone and afraid, kids who didn’t have friends like Paula and Lucas to lean on. And it was people like Porky who were leeching the life away from them. Each moment he felt guilt for the man in the mech was a moment he could be using to think about ways to help the kids curled up in an alley.

So Ness followed Claus and Paula as they walked out the door. He focused his thoughts on Poo and all the other people out there who needed his help.

And when he heard screams from behind him, he was able to ignore them.

#

Ness arrived at the hallway where Dr. Andonuts and Claus first ambushed them to see Dr. Andonuts lying on the ground unconscious. Beyond his limp body, past the glass tanks and beyond the scars on the metal walls from PSI or laser gun damage, Ness saw Poo swinging the Sword of Kings at Kumatora while she ducked out of the way and lunged at him with bladed gauntlets.

Ness broke into a run, summoning his blade and skidding to a halt next to Poo. Kumatora growled at him, sparks flying off her fingertips.

“So you fell to him as well,” Kumatora said. “Why couldn’t you just die instead like a good little child?”

“Guess I can stop pretending,” Poo said.

He shoved a hand at Kumatora, and she went flying up. She landed on the ceiling, arms extended to the side, baring her teeth. Her muscles twitched but she didn’t move, meaning she couldn’t use PSI.

Poo turned to face Ness and his eyes were the same red color as Lucas’ and Paula’s.

“Bastard.” Kumatora growled. “It doesn’t matter how many of you unholy creatures there are. I’ll hunt you all down. So enjoy your last-”

Poo snapped, and Kumatora’s lips sealed shut. She made grunting noises like a gagged hostage, but Ness saw her chest rise and fall as she inhaled and exhaled through her nose.

“You’re one of us,” Ness said.

“Congratulations, Ness and Paula,” Poo said. “I didn’t know if you were up to the task, but I should never have doubted you.”

Paula walked up to Ness and Poo, frowning. “Why not just tell us that this was your plan for us?”

“Would you have trusted me?” Poo said. “If you knew that I carried the soul of Giygas and wanted you to do so as well, would you have listened?”

Ness bit his lip.

“It’s better when you figure out on your own,” Poo said. “And I wanted to make sure you weren’t just in it for the power.”

“So let’s say we don’t take the virus into ourselves as Giygas’ energy,” Paula said. “What happens?”

“I can’t carry any more of Giygas’ power,” Poo said. “He simply wouldn’t accept more of himself in my body now that we’ve settled down together. So I would have been powerless as I watched the virus ravage the world and wipe everyone out. You still saved this world, Ness and Paula. And for that, you have my sincere gratitude.”

“All right,” came Lucas’ voice behind Ness. “What did I miss?”

When Ness stepped back and pivoted to get a wider field of vision, he saw Lucas looking up with a raised eyebrow at Kumatora on the ceiling.

“How much did she know about this?” Ness said. “She seemed to recognize who you are.”

“Ah, yes.” Poo glanced up. “I believe her plan goes back quite a way. Clashing with Lucas so that the powerful PSI would create disturbances that rippled out into other dimensions to draw me. And then… I guess try to kill me? Or whoever else came to answer. There are more of us who accept Giygas into our bodies.”

“Really?” Lucas said.

“Oh yes. There’s even an annoying little ghost who was you from another dimension, Lucas. He wanders around the multiverse, popping in to give advice to people every now and again. But that’s a story for another day.”

“A ghost…” Paula smiled. “Perfect.”

Ness frowned, making a mental note to ask her later about her plans.

“Okay, so I think we’re all good with each other, yes?” Lucas said, glancing around. “All that’s left is to tie up loose ends.”

“First thing to make clear,” Poo said. “I want all of you to wait a least a week before travelling to another plane of existence. The virus shouldn’t be in your body anymore, but we can’t risk it spreading to other realities.”

“Sounds good,” Ness said. “After that, it’s just a matter of getting everyone back to their own universes. Unless you have some other plans for us, Poo?”

Poo shook his head. “I’ll swing by if I need help, and sooner or later I’ll drop by and explain a few basics of plane travel. But one thing we swear by is making sure to take care of ourselves before reaching out to other worlds. If we wear ourselves out, we’re just hampering our ability to help in the long run. Please do relax in your own worlds, at least for a while.”

“Tell me,” Paula said. “Did you visit our world before?”

Poo hesitated, then nodded. “I wasn’t sure when to bring it up.”

Ness frowned. “What were you doing there?”

“I was honest when explaining how the multiverse works,” Poo said. “Giygas wanted lots of people to converge here. Because he knew that shit was about to go down. I only left out one teensy little detail that by Giygas I meant me.”

“You came Jeff first,” Paula said, crossing her arms. “You lured him here.”

“I explained the situation,” Poo said. “The choice to travel between universes was his own. I didn’t think he would…” Poo grimaced.

“And if you did know,” Paula whispered, “Would it have made a difference?”

“No.” Poo looked down at the ground. “I wouldn’t have kidnapped him, even if I thought we could save billions. But if he made that choice for himself, I wasn’t going to stop him either. I understand if you hate me for taking your friend away.”

Paula let out a long sigh. “I suppose that’s fair. What do you think, Ness?”

“Jeff was never one to wish for ignorance,” Ness said. “He didn’t want to hide from the truth just because it was ugly. I think you did him a favor, Poo. I’m sure he died knowing that people might see a new sunrise because of him. That’s better than what a lot of people get.”

A shy smile came to Poo’s face. “Thank you. I always forget that compassion does exist in this cold multiverse.”

“I hate to interrupt this emotional moment,” Lucas said, “But someone I care about is currently stuck to the ceiling, and I would like to work out the details right away for her sake.”

“Ah, right.” Ness coughed into a fist. “So we need to get everyone back to their own dimensions.”

“Claus is from a different dimension than I am,” Lucas said.

“I guess that would explain why you look older than me,” Claus said. “I don’t pretend to understand what’s going on, but I don’t think you’ll try and kill me again.”

Ness flinched at Claus’ casual tone, and then made eye contact with Paula so that he didn’t have to look around awkwardly.

“Uh, yeah.” Lucas cleared his throat. “In my universe, you’re dead. So I know you must come from somewhere else.”

“We can take him to his own world together,” Poo said. “I can show you how to link his thoughts to a specific universe.”

“Right.” Lucas looked up at Kumatora. “Then I’ll take her back to my world.”

“I suppose what you do with her is none of our business,” Paula said, “But she _did_ try to kill us.”

“Do you have any comment, pink hair?” Poo said, snapping his fingers again.

Kumatora gasped for air as her mouth opened. She spat from the ceiling, the spittle falling on the floor as Poo sidestepped.

“You’re annoying as all hell, Lukey,” Kumatora said, “But I didn’t actually want to kill you. This freak was right that I was hunting after him. I wanted to draw him out first when we were fighting at the top of the mountain, then again after he brought us here. For all his talk about not kidnapping Jeff, he seemed fine dragging us away from our home universe.”

“I could tell you were trying to get my attention,” Poo said. “I wanted to keep eyes on you. And sorry, Lucas. You sort of came along for the ride. I was planning on taking you back, but it didn’t look like you wanted to leave this world alone. And I couldn’t exactly offer you a ride back without revealing myself, which is not something I want to make a habit of doing.”

“Everything turned out all right, so I’m willing to let bygones be bygones,” Lucas said. “Do you think Kuma is telling the truth?”

Poo nodded. “The fact that she knows who I am is a little troubling, but she won’t be a threat to the multiverse. I’d say what happens to her is your call.”

“You willing to talk things out, Kuma?” Lucas said, glancing up at the ceiling.

Kumatora let out a grunt that sounded half-hearted. “I guess I do owe the three of you my life for saving me from that virus and all.”

“You didn’t have immunity to that like Lucas does?” Paula said.

“I was born on the Nowhere Islands, so I wasn’t exposed to the virus like he was,” Kumatora said. “I do hate this place and think it should burn to the ground, but my main motivation for getting involved with Porky was just to draw this creature out. It’s strange that none of you seem especially possessed by Giygas, though.”

“The relationship is closer to the other way around,” Poo said. “Maybe if you stick around us you’ll realize we aren’t so bad after all.”

“You’re going back with me, Kuma,” Lucas said. “Resist, and I’ll lock you up when we get there. If not, I’ll let you go free. You’ll still have to explain to everyone else what you’ve been up to, though.”

“Oh, right. Those degenerates.” Kumatora sighed. “Fine. I won’t resist. Can I come off the ceiling now?”

Poo waved a hand, and Kumatora’s body went into free wall. Right before she was about to slam into the ground, she floated to a stop like a feather. She hopped to her feet and shot a scowl at Poo. At least she stayed quiet.

“What about Dr. Andonuts?” Paula said.

“The brainwashing used Giygas’ power,” Claus said. “So it should be gone when the three of you defeated him. Did he come from your timeline?”

“I think so?” Ness glanced at Paula. “I guess technically he could be Dr. Andonuts from a different reality.”

“No, this one is from your world,” Poo said. “I’ve been keeping track.”

“Great,” Ness said. “So Paula and I can take him back with us.”

“About that.” Paula shuffled her feet. “I think I want to stay here instead.”

“Oh.” Ness tried to hide the disappointment in his voice.

“Sorry.” Paula grimaced.

“No, I should be the one apologizing for assuming you would want to return. It must be hard when you don’t feel like you have a place in the world you helped create.”

“Yeah, there’s that, and I’m also just fascinated by this world.” Paula scanned the metal wall. “So many possibilities. I might visit home occasionally, but I think I still need a bit of space until I can get my mind off our relationship. But I promise that one day I’ll finally be over everything hat happened between us, and then I’ll be ready for us to be best friends again.”

“Best friends sounds good.” Ness grinned. “I’m glad you’re doing what’s best for you, Paula. Take as long as you need. I’ll be waiting back in Eagleland.”

Paula laughed. “It’s a deal, then. When you asked me out, I thought I found the perfect boyfriend. I think you turned out to be more.”

“By the Dark Dragon,” Kumatora said, shaking her head. “The two of you are so sappy.”

“Hey, Jeff always said that my heart was my strongest power,” Ness said. “I’m just proving him right, even after death.”

Paula rolled her eyes. “Now I’m tempted to agree with Kumatora, just because of how I hate him being right about everything.”

Ness laughed. In that moment, he was okay. Not perfect, but good.

It was a start.

#

The week of waiting passed by in a blur. Upon waking up, Dr. Andonuts was back to his old self and was able to keep LifeTech from causing any more problems for the time being. The company was more than willing to agree that everything that happened to Porky was just an unfortunate accident when Dr. Andonuts mentioned he might tell the public about the virus going loose.

Paula started communicating with Lifetech as well, and managed to get them to stop producing viruses and other pathogens. Ness suspected she coerced them into it, but Paula refused to give him any of the details.

After realizing that he wasn’t going to be useful in the corporate politics game that Paula and Dr. Andonuts were playing, Ness spent the week exploring the rural parts of the world and playing baseball with Lucas. The two of them played with Flint for hours. Ness could already see Lucas’ stamina and precision translating from combat over to baseball. If he kept up at his breakneck pace of improvement, Ness was convinced that Lucas might be able to go pro.

During the nights, they slept in one of the underground bunkers that wasn’t in use. After getting back from the baseball game with Flint, Lucas approached Ness. It looked like he just finished biting a fingernail.

“You know how Paula didn’t have anything keeping her tied to your world?” Lucas said.

“If you have something to ask me, Lucas, you can just say it.”

Lucas’ face turned paler than usual. “I don’t have much left either. And I want to look at how other worlds are built to get a feeling for how my society back home should function.”

“Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

Lucas took a deep breath. “Can I visit your world, Ness? I don’t have to stay long.”

Ness gave Lucas a light hug. Lucas was sweaty from a day of baseball in the hot sun, but the contact with another person still felt nice. Lucas stiffened, followed by a blush.

“Stay as long as you like, Lucas. Paula stayed in my room for months, so I can’t imagine my parents would have a problem with you doing the same.”

Lucas broke into a grin. “I guess that means we can play more baseball, doesn’t it?”

“As much as you want.” Ness paused. “Actually, I guess I still have school to deal with. Maybe I shouldn’t be looking forward to returning home as much as I am.”

Lucas cocked his head. “I’ve heard people use that word, but I don’t really know what it means.”

“Oh, school?” Ness laughed. “You’ll see. I think you’re smarter than I am, so you might even like it.”

Lucas looked confused, but didn’t ask any more questions. The two of them chatted about various places to see in Eagleland until past midnight when they finally flopped onto their thin mattresses and fell asleep.

At the end of the week, Poo was confident that nobody was infected by the virus. Lucas spent a few hours travelling between dimensions to take Kumatora and Claus back, but was ready to leave for Eagleland at around noon. Poo and Paula joined them at the bunker to say goodbye, along with Dr. Andonuts. He explained that he wanted to atone for what he did when under Porky’s control, and was now fighting for clone rights alongside Paula. Plus, he admitted that going back to Eagleland with knowledge of future technology would give him an unfair advantage in making inventions (what could Ness say? Inventors were weird). He seemed regretful about Jeff’s death, but in a distant way like Jeff was a grandfather he last saw when he was a child. Ness figured it wasn’t his place to judge.

Paula looked better than ever. She dyed her hair from green to sky blue, and explained to him how much easier the process was than back in Eagleland. She also wore a jumpsuit that she said was far more comfortable than jeans, and she also explained how it automatically detected and stored objects pressed against it without her needing to worry about pocket space. She ended up going on a ten-minute tangent to Lucas about how small the pockets on women’s pants were back in Eagleland (this was Ness’ fourth… maybe fifth time hearing it?). Lucas, to his credit, looked properly astonished that women’s pants would be that much less practical than men’s.

They chitchatted for over an hour, until eventually Poo suggested that everyone say their final goodbyes.

“I’m not the Poo that you know best,” he said. “But you still have a special place in my heart, Ness. And you have my gratitude as well for all your help, Lucas. I’m sure we will see each other before too long.”

Ness and Lucas gave Poo the proper goodbye embraces, though Lucas still looked uncomfortable hugging.

Saying goodbye to Paula was more difficult.

She and Lucas spent a decent amount of time thanking each other for their assistance. Ness smiled to himself as he noted their similar expressions, both even professional on the outside while carrying a softness underneath that he only noticed because of how hostile they looked towards each other earlier. Ness hoped that they would have more chances to connect with each other in the future.

Then came Ness’ turn. Ness walked up to her and opened his mouth, but Paula opened her arms before giving him a chance to speak. Ness threw himself into her arms, feeling them wrap around his back and hold him tight.

“It’s going to be hard,” Paula said. “Fuck, it’s already hard to spend so much time without you. But I dealt with it before right after our breakup. I can do it again.”

“I never knew how much you were still hurting on the inside,” Ness said. “I guess you can be strong and still struggle with what’s inside your mind, huh?”

“Always,” Paula said. “But being in this world is good. Nobody judges me for who I am, and I can keep myself busy long enough to distract myself from all those questions.”

“Don’t forget to take care of yourself, all right?” Ness hugged her closer. “Even heroes need days off.”

Paula laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. But I’m happy here. It feels like this place was just… waiting for me. You go ahead and make some great friends, all right? When we next meet, I’m going to make you tell me about all of them.”

“Same goes for you,” Ness said. “And I expect to know if you start dating someone else.”

“Pool’s a bit wider, so there’s certainly a chance,” Paula said. “Chicks are more likely to realize they’re attracted to girls, and dudes are less likely to be toxic and overbearing.”

“Well, good luck in all your goals,” Ness said. “You’re going to rock this world.”

“Thanks. And you do your best to find what you want to do, all right?” She exhaled, and Ness could feel her chest deflate. “There’s something else as well. I don’t want to get your hopes up, so I’ll leave it as a surprise. But if it works, you’ll know when you see it.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Ness leaned back and stared into her eyes. “I know I couldn’t love you as a boyfriend, Paula. But these emotions I’m feeling for you are real. Is it okay to still say that I love you?”

“Of course. I love you too, Ness. I’m looking forward to being your friend when we meet again.”

Paula released Ness from her embrace, smiling one last time before turning away.

“Please go now,” she said, “Before this hurts any more.”

Ness drew in a deep breath. “Until we meet again.”

“Until we meet again,” Paula said.

Ness turned around to see an open portal, with Lucas standing off to the side. When Ness walked up to him, Lucas nodded. No need for words.

Ness and Lucas stepped through the portal together.


	18. Epilogue

**199X:**

It was midnight by the time that Ness knocked on the door to his house. No response.

“Guess in the worst case scenario, we could camp out here,” Lucas said, looking up at the sky. “Doesn’t look like it will rain.”

“One of the best parts about doing most of my travelling in cities is always having access to hotels,” Ness said. “I don’t know how you and Kumatora did it.”

“Yeah, me neither. But here I am.” Lucas put his hands on his hips and beamed.

Ness knocked again, and hear King barking from inside.

“Oh my gosh you have a dog?” Lucas walked up to the door. “I only had time to see Boney for a few minutes before heading off while I was dumping Kuma in my reality. I’m just glad that he understood why I needed to go.”

“You can talk to animals as well?” Ness said.

“Yeah. Remind me some time to tell you about all the sparrows I talked to along my journey.”

Ness thought back to Porky letting out a sparrow’s song to make Claus recall painful brainwashings. Hopefully he could learn to leave that part of him behind and appreciate their music again.

The door swung open in front of Ness to reveal his mother in a nightgown. She gasped upon seeing Ness, walking out onto the porch in her slippers and hugging him.

“You’re okay,” she said. “My baby is all right.”

“Uh, maybe not in front of my friend,” Ness said.

“Oh, I don’t mind this.” Lucas smirked.

Ness glared at Lucas before turning to hug his mother back.

“Where have you been all this time?” she said. “If you’re going on another adventure, at least let me know, all right? If you had the decency to do that when you were twelve, you have the decency now. And what happened to your eyes? If you charged colored contacts to the credit card, your father is going to be angry with you.”

“Really, Ness?” Lucas said. “You didn’t even tell your mom what you were going to do?”

“Yeah, like you told anyone you were going to get sucked off into an alternate dimension.” To his mother, “I can talk about the eyes later. We’re tired for now.”

“Now you’re just being insensitive.” Lucas’ grin widened. “My mom’s dead, so I couldn’t tell her anything.”

Lucas looked all too pleased with himself. But if Ness called Lucas out, he would look like an asshole who was picking on the kid with a dead mom. If he did that, his own mom would never let him hear the end of it. So he rolled his eyes at Lucas before turning back and waiting for his mother to release him. When she finally did, she walked over and examined Lucas.

“You must be cold in those clothes,” she said. “Why don’t you come inside?”

“Thank you,” Lucas said. “Don’t worry too much about me, though. I hiked up a snowy mountain in these shorts.”

Ness narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t.”

“Guess you two have something in common, then,” Ness’ mom said. “This boy here calls me from _Winters_ of all places and my first question is whether or not he packed a warmer set of clothes. I was ready to march over there myself when he said that he was just dealing with the cold in his usual t-shirt and shorts.”

Lucas laughed. “Great minds think alike.”

Ness’ mom turned back towards him. “Where are your manners, Ness? Why don’t you introduce me to your friend here?”

“I would have done that if you didn’t rush out and bear hug me,” Ness said. “Lucas, I’m sorry for making you watch me hug random people for several minutes on multiple occasions today.”

“I wouldn’t have needed to if you didn’t go missing for a week,” his mom said. “And I’m still waiting for an introduction.”

Ness sighed. “This is Lucas. He’s from…” Ness glanced at Lucas. “Somewhere far away. He wants to stay with us for an indiscriminate amount of time.”

“Well, I’m always glad to see that you’re making new friends,” she said. “Feel free to stay here as long as you like, sweetie. I can already tell that you’re going to make less of a mess than my son. But you should really get out of the cold.”

Ness’ mother shuffled back in the house. Lucas glanced at Ness, shrugged, and followed her in. Ness shook his head before walking into his house and locking the door behind him. King ran up to Lucas and tried to stand on his hind legs to greet him. Lucas held King’s paws in his hands while King licked his face.

“King,” Ness said. “Get down. No bugging the guests.”

“It’s fine, Ness,” Lucas said. “Look how excited he is.”

Well since his mom didn’t seem to be here to police Ness’ hospitality, he wasn’t going to fight Lucas on that point.

Ness glanced out into the living room to see Tracy playing on her Super Nintendo. She pulled up a pause screen and glanced back over at Ness. She glanced over at the empty kitchen and staircase, wearing a mischievous grin as she looked back at Ness. The one time Ness needed his mom to keep Tracy civil, she was upstairs doing something or other.

“Hey, dipshit,” Tracy said. “Who goes missing for a week without telling anyone? And your new eyes make you look edgier than me during my middle school phase.”

“Who taught you that language?” Ness said.

Tracy snorted, crossing her arms. “Hey, is that your boyfriend?”

At this point, King was done slobbering on Lucas and ran back over into the kitchen area, raising his tail expectantly. Lucas waved hi to Tracy.

“You didn’t tell me you had a sister, Ness.” To Tracy, “I’m Lucas, and I’m unfortunately not Ness’ boyfriend. He doesn’t have any interest in me.”

“Damn, my brother actually has no taste,” Tracy said. “Better watch your back, Ness. There are worse boys someone could make off with.”

Lucas laughed, wiping dog slobber off his face.

“Tracy, stop hitting on my friend. He’s like three years older than you anyway. Lucas, stop encouraging her.”

“All right, Mr. Hero man,” Tracy said, turning back to her video game.

“You little-” Ness took a deep breath. “Love you too, Tracy. Goodnight.”

Ness led Lucas over to the stairwell. At the last moment, he turned back Tracy.

“Why did you think Lucas was my boyfriend, again?”

Tracy sighed, pausing again. “I don’t know. You go missing for a week and show up with someone I’ve never seen before. And you’re obviously not straight.”

Lucas whistled. “Someone’s perceptive.”

“More like someone’s painfully obvious.” Tracy turned back to her game. “I hope you find the boy of your dreams eventually, Ness.”

“I’m not…” Ness grunted. “You know what? We can have this discussion later. And no telling mom that I’m not-”

“No telling me what?”

Ness whirled around to see his mom at the top of the stairwell. He rubbed his temples. The truth wouldn’t bother her, probably, and Ness had basically told her about his sexuality a year ago while being a bit vaguer about it. But if she thought he were gay, it might raise questions about him and Lucas.

Well, Tracy was a little snake of a high-schooler, but she probably wouldn’t “out” him. Probably. Siblings really were the worst.

“I set up a sleeping bag in your room for you, Ness,” his mother said. “You’re going to be a good guest and let Lucas have your bed, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ness shot a glance at Lucas that hopefully conveyed _we can talk about it later._

“All right, scoot of to bed,” she said. “I can see that you’re tired. Mothers know these things.”

Ness let out a sigh. For once, he was more than happy to follow her request. He and Lucas went to Ness’ room. Lucas studied the baseball trophies for a moment, but a convenient yawn came out of Ness’ mouth to signal that the explanation would need to wait until the morning. Even though it would only be noon by the time zone in the future dimension, Ness was ready to pass out.

Lucas insisted on taking the sleeping bag so that Ness could be more comfortable, and Ness was too tired to argue. He drifted off to sleep, ready to restart tomorrow.

#

That night, someone spoke to Ness as he was drifting through dreams.

“Come say hi to your friends, sleepyhead.”

What an annoying voice. Ness blinked awake under a golden sky and a green aurora. The Sea of Eden again. He rotated his body until he was standing up to see Sen grinning at him a few paces away in the pond, still taking the form of his doppelganger.

“Man, you really do have permanent bedhead.”

Ness looked out into the distance to see Paula further out. She waved to him and waded closer. Lucas’ sleeping body appeared floating on the Sea of Eden in front of him moments later.

“I’m so glad this worked,” Paula said. “Thanks for your cooperation, Giygas.”

“You can call this part of me Sen.” He glanced around at the glowing water. “Paula’s pretty smart, Ness. She figured out that because your Magicant was between dimensions, we could all meet here.”

“Probably shouldn’t do this every night, since it will interfere with regular sleep,” Paula said. “But it’s to have the option whenever we want to catch up with each other. And this time, there’s something I needed to show you.”

“Will I still forget everything?” Ness said.

“Not that you have Giygas’ power now,” Sen said. “Oh, and I’m not the person you fear the most anymore. I’m just appearing this way to be familiar.”

Ness glanced at Lucas body floating on the water, eyes shut.

“Don’t worry, that’s normal,” Paula said. “You were floating there for a while as well. Now, bear with me for a sec…”

Paula pressed her hands together. Wisps of darkness flowed off her body, the shadow energy somehow bright enough that Ness was forced to cover his eyes. When the darkness faded, Ness looked up to see two people standing where one had been before. The first person was Paula.

The other was Jeff.

Ness froze. Jeff chuckled and adjusted his glasses.

“Shouldn’t have doubted you, Paula,” Jeff said. “In another life, you would make a great inventor.”

“Is that…” Ness reached out towards Jeff. “Are you real?”

“Not alive, but definitely real.” Jeff waded closer to Ness. “It’s so good to see your eyes with my own again.”

“Lost spirits sometimes wander the PSI world,” Sen said. “Paula was able to bring him over from his robot form to this sanctuary inside your mind. If you want to let him rest here, he’ll stay for as long as he likes.”

Jeff nodded. “I’ll want to move on eventually, of course. But this place seems nice enough that I might as well stick around for at least a couple more years. If you let me, that is.”

“Of course you can stay here,” Ness said. “We’re going to catch up even if it takes years to go through all the details.”

Ness ran towards Jeff, splashing through the shallow water. He nearly tripped as he made his final steps, and Jeff had to catch him. Ness looked at Jeff and beamed. The grip of Jeff’s hands on his shoulders felt so _real._

“Did you figure out what your strongest weapon was, Ness?” Jeff said.

“I did, and you were wrong. My heart on its own is weak. It took multiple hearts connected together to accomplish what I needed to.”

Jeff threw out a wide shrug in mock surrender. “Objection noted.”

“So I guess,” Ness said, “That it’s good how we’re all in this together.”

Ness looked from Jeff to Paula, Paula to Sen, Sen to Lucas, and then from Lucas up to the sky that was looking down upon all of them. Perhaps Ness’ first adventure taught him the wrong lesson. Perhaps it didn’t take the will of everyone praying to vanquish evil.

Because right now, being here with friends was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right! That’s all I’ve got. Thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful day. :D


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